Cards of Destiny
by Rowan Cousland
Summary: During the Battle City Finals, Yugi and the gang meet Kayla, a girl who seems like a normal teen. But Bakura's Millennium ring says otherwise. Could this girl possess another Millennium Item? Or could she have something more powerful? Bakura/O.C COMPLETE!
1. The Finalists

Cards of Destiny

A Yu-Gi-Oh fan fiction

By Rowan Cousland

Chapter One

The Finalists

_"_Battle City Finals, here we come." Yugi Motu thought as he and his friends walked into Kaiba Corp Stadium. He, Mai and Joey were finalists in the Battle City Tournaments. The rest of their friends, Duke, Tristan, Serenity, and Tea were there for support.

As they entered the stadium, they looked around. "This is it?" Yugi asked.

"This place is still under construction." Duke pointed out. The stadium looked only half finished.

In the center of the stadium stood Seto and Mokuba Kaiba, and two men who worked for Kaiba Corp. "Welcome duelists." One said. "Please present your locator cards."

Joey held up his with a triumphant smile. "Check it out. We call have six!"

"Congratulations then." The other man said, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out eight cards. "These are your tournament . You are now officially Battle City Finalists."

Mai rolled her eyes and too her I.D. "We already knew that."

Joey took his and looked over it. "So where is everyone else?"

"So far there are only three of you, including Mr. Kaiba. The other four are expected to arrive shortly."

With that being said, the group stood and waited, watching the entrance to the stadium.

Soon after, another Duelist arrived. Yugi got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Guys, I've got a bad feeling about this." He said quietly.

Joey looked at him. "Do you think it's that evil creep Marik?"

Yugi shrugged. "It could be." He brought his gaze back to the door and watched as the duelist made their entrance.

A man who looked to be nineteen entered. He had platinum blonde hair, lavender eyes, and he had a tan, as if he'd spent most of his life in the sun. He was wearing a sleeveless vest, black leather pants, and a few pieces of jewelry. **(A/N: Release the squealing fangirls!)**

Tea and Joey ran to greet the duelist. "Hey, we know you." Joey pointed out. "You're Namu right? You're the one who helped Bakura out earlier."

Marik smiled. They still thought he was a friend, Namu. "Glad I could help."

Tea turned and introduced him to the rest of the group. But the whole time, he was looking at Yugi. Yugi instantly got that feeling in his stomach again. But he kept up his smile, and welcomed "Namu" to the tournament.

"It's nice to be with such a welcoming crowd." Namu said. "I hope everyone I meet is as nice as you guys."

As soon as he said that, another duelist limped their way into the stadium. Everyone gasped. "It's Bakura!" Yugi shouted. **(A/N: Cue the rest of the squealing fangirls!)**

He ran to Bakura, and stopped him from falling over. Tristan ran over as well. "Bakura? What are you doing here? You need to get back to the Hospital."

Bakura smiled. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just getting used to walking again."

Yugi looked at Bakura's arm. "What are you doing wearing a Duel Disk?"

"How else was I going to get six locator cards and enter the finals?" Bakura said. He held up the cards.

The look of pure shock spread over everyone's face. _"No way!"_ Yugi thought. _"Bakura could barely walk! How could he win six locator cards?"_

Joey and Tristan join in on the questioning. But Bakura quickly changed the subject. "Looks, it's the seventh duelist."

Everyone turned back towards the entrance. A big, strong looking man walked in wearing a purple cape. Tea and Joey gasped. "That's him!" Tea said.

Yugi looked at her concerned. "He's the one who kidnapped me." Mokuba added.

Kaiba glared at this duelist. "State your name and business now."

The man lifted his head and looked at Kaiba. "I am Marik." He said.

"I should disqualify you for capturing my little brother." Kaiba returned. "But have something I want, and before the finals are over you Egyptian God Card will be mine."

Marik showed no emotion as he walked away from Kaiba.

One of Kaiba's men stood in front of the finalists. "Alright. Give me your attention please. Seven out of Eight of you are here. So now it's time to announce…"

"Wait!" a female voice shouted. Everyone turned to the source of the voice. A girl who looked to be about Seventeen was running in the stadium. "Wait! Hold on a minute!" She stopped just short of Kaiba's men. She bent down trying to catch her breath. "Sorry I'm late." She panted. She held up her locator cards.

Kaiba looked at the girl. "State your name."

The girl looked up at him. "Kayla. Kayla Edwards. I'm filling in for the eighth duelist until she arrives.

Bakura watched the girl with interest. She had long curly brown hair that reached her lower back, and piercing green eyes. She was wearing a grey tank top, a thin white knee length skirt, brown leather boots with a jacket to match, and the Kaiba Corp Duel Disk on her left arm. The right sleeve of her jacket lifted up a bit, exposing a gold bracelet.

Bakura's Millennium Ring, hidden under his shirt, was starting to act up. The needles of the ring started pointing at the girl. Luckily no one was looking at him at the time. He put his hand over the ring, forcing the needles to go back down again.

"_Interesting."_ Bakura thought. _"I wonder if this girl is in possession of one of the Millennium Items. I shall have to look into this later."_

"Your story checks out. The eighth finalist called ahead of time, telling us this. Welcome to the Battle City Finals." The guard gave Kayla her I.D.

Kayla smiled, and stuck it into the pocket of her jacket. She then walked over to where Yugi and his friends were standing. She looked up, and spotted Tea. "Tea? Tea Gardner?"

Tea looked at Kayla. "Kayla? Oh my god, what are you doing here?"

Kayla lifted up the arm that she wore her Duel Disk on. "I'm in the Finals. Duh." She smiled. "What are you doing here? Are you in it too?"

Tea shook her head. "I'm just here to cheer on my friends." She turned to the others.

"Guys, this is Kayla. She and I were best friends before her dad was stationed over in the Middle East. Kayla, these are my friends, Tristan, Joey, Mai, Serenity, Duke, Bakura, and Yugi. And over there is our friend Namu."

Kayla looked at them. "Wait, you mean Yugi and Joey? As in the two finalists for the Duelist Kingdom Tournament?"

Joey laughed. "See? I told you guys someone would recognize me!" He quickly walked up to Kayla and held out his hand. "Joey Wheeler. Second runner up at Duelist Kingdom." Kayla shook his hand with a smile.

Yugi held his hand when Joey was finished. "And I'm Yugi. It's nice to meet you Kayla."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Her gaze eventually met Bakura, and she noticed him staring at her, almost as if he was examining her. She looked away ignoring him.

Yugi and Bakura could both sense a great power coming from her. _"Who exactly is this girl?"_ Yugi wondered.

"You didn't tell me that you played Duel Monsters, Kayla." Tea said.

"Well, I didn't before I moved. I just got into it after watching the Duelist Kingdom tournament. It looked like fun, and my brother was really into it. He gave me his deck, and taught me everything I know."

"That's awesome." Tea said. "Maybe you could duel one of us later, and show us what you can do. Not for competition, just for fun."

Kayla smiled. "I'd like that. Who wants to go first?"

Joey jumped up. "I call first duel." He said. "I want to see what you've got, Kayla."

"You're on Wheeler."

The security guard cleared his throat. "As I was saying before, though your locator cards led you here, this is not where the Battle City Finals will be taking place."

"The actual tournament area should be here anytime now folks."

"I'm lost." Joey said. "What else is new?" Mai countered.

"Where exactly are the Finals being held?" Yugi asked.

Suddenly, a giant blimp came into view above the stadium. Everyone gasped. "So we're dueling in the sky?" Yugi asked, amazed.

"You've got it Yugi." Mokuba said with a smile. "Four thousand feet in the sky." He turned to everyone else. "Alright everyone, climb aboard for the Battle City finals!"

The blimp landed, and everyone entered. Kayla stopped Tea right after Bakura boarded. "That's Bakura right?"

Tea nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. Just curious." Kayla said. She now had his name. If she found him staring at her the same way he had before, she would confront him. Something about him made her feel uneasy.

"Hey guys? You coming?" Yugi shouted from the blimp.

"Yeah, hurry up!" Joey added. "I want to get some practice in before the finals start!"

Kayla smiled, and ran on board. "Come on Tea!" she shouted with a laughed.

"_Just like old times."_ Tea thought to herself. "Hey, Kayla! Wait up!" she ran after her friend, laughing along with her.

Before the security guards boarded, another duelist made their way into the stadium. "I believe you were waiting for me?" she asked. The two nodded. She handed them her locator cards. "Should we inform the girl that you have arrived?"

The duelist shook her head. "Let her duel in this tournament. She has a lot at stake here, and has something she's fighting for."

The guards nodded, and let the duelist board. _"And besides,"_ She thought. _"If I fail to save my brother, then Kayla will have to do it. It is what her future holds."_


	2. Warming Up

Chapter Two

Warming Up

Joey stared at the card in his hands, trying to come up with a new strategy. So far, Kayla was winning against him in their "non-hologram, just for fun, game"

_"New to duel monsters my foot."_ Joey thought. _"She plays like a pro."_

"Come on Joey, you're boring the poor girl to death. Make a move already." Mai said, trying to edge the duel on. Joey glared at her. "I'm workin on it! Don't rush me."

Kayla smiled, and stifled a giggle. "Take all the time you want Joey." "You'll regret saying that." Tea mumbled, earning another laugh from Kayla and Mai.

Joey's sister Serenity watched patiently, taking in all of the rules and strategies of Duel Monsters. She hoped to someday play like her brother.

On the table right now, Kayla had two monsters, Mystical Elf in defense mode, and Mermaid Knight in attack, including a face down card. Joey had his Baby Dragon out in attack mode, and that was it. Kayla had defeated his other monsters, bringing his life points down to five hundred.

After a few more moments, Joey made his decision. "Alright Kayla, prepare to lose. This strategy is a keeper here. I play Time Wizard in attack mode." He slapped the card onto the table.

Kayla smirked. "I activate, Spell Binding circle." She gracefully flipped over her face down card. "And I choose to use it on your Baby Dragon. It's now stuck there until it's destroyed, or the game is over."

Joey's eye widened, as did Kayla's smirk. "And now, I attack your Time Wizard with my Mermaid Knight. Bringing your life points straight down to zero. I win." She crossed her arms over her chest, and crossed her legs, giving a triumphant smile.

"Great job, Kayla." Tea said. "You play as if you've been playing your whole life."

"I let her win." Joey said. "You know, just to give the newbie a bit of confidence."

"Oh really." Mai questioned. "Is that how it was? Well if that's true then why don't you go again, and give her a real challenge."

Joey swallowed hard. "On second thought, I think I'll pass. But hey, maybe someone else would like to give it a try."

The girls laughed, up until Bakura approached Kayla. "I'll give it a shot."She looked up at him, his brown eyes piercing into hers. "Um… It's Bakura right?"

He nodded, and smiled. "And you're Kayla, if I'm not mistaken, and you're playing just for fun."

Kayla nodded. "Yeah. That's right. Just warming up for the real event."

Bakura took Joey's spot and laid his deck on the table. "Then allow me to help you, if you don't mind."

She smiled. "Bring it on." She shuffled her deck, and Bakura did the same. They then placed their decks on the table. "Alright." She said. "Let's duel."

They both drew their hands, and the duel began.

Ten minutes. That was all it took.

In Ten minutes, Bakura had gotten Kayla's life points down to six hundred, with Bakura's remaining at two thousand.

Kayla tried to think of a different strategy, but her hand wasn't doing her much justice. She slipped off her jacket, trying to think.

It was then that Bakura got his first good look at her bracelet.

It was a golden cuff bracelet, with three large turquoise stones. There was a small golden eye symbol embedded into the center stone. His Millennium Ring started pointing at the bracelet. He quickly put his hand over it to stop it.

_"How is this possible?"_ He wondered_. "All these years, I've never once heard of a Millennium Bracelet. Or anything else along those lines. I must investigate this. I must know if this girl truly does possess a Millennium Item. She could become very useful."_

"That's a very… Interesting bracelet you have Kayla." Bakura pointed out.

"Huh?" Kayla looked down at her wrist. She was so absorbed in the game that she forgot about her surroundings. "Oh. That. Thanks."

Something changed in her then. The very mention of the bracelet seemed to bring sorrow to her eyes. Bakura ignored it. "Do you mind me asking where you got it?"

"You've got a thing for jewelry now Bakura?" Joey asked, confused.

"No. It's just that I think I've seen it before, I just can't remember where."

Kayla shrugged. "Unless you've been to Egypt recently, you probably haven't."

"You went to Egypt?" Tea asked.

Kayla nodded. "When we moved, my dad took me and my brother on a few trips. We stopped by the Pyramids in Egypt since we were close by. He bought it for me while we were there. The lady that sold it to him said it had some special gift that came with it. Or something crazy like that."

_"Just as I had suspected."_ Bakura thought to himself.

"That is pretty crazy." Tea said, agreeing with Kayla's previous statement. "Speaking of your brother how is Gavin?"

Kayla's hand froze just inches above her deck. Bakura seemed to be the only one who noticed. Kayla dropped her eyes, looking down at the table. "He's fine." She said quickly. "He's doing great."

Tea smiled, not noticing her friend's discomfort with the subject. "Did he ever get accepted into the tech school he wanted to go to?" Kayla nodded. "That's where he is right now actually." Bakura could sense the lies behind her words.

Kayla quickly stood up. "I forfeit. You win Bakura." She said, picking her jacket and her deck up. Her Duel Disk was lying on her bed in her room. She slipped her deck into her pocket and walked out of the room. "It was nice to meet you guys, and it was a pleasure to duel."

Tea looked at the others when she had left. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Maybe." Serenity said. "Did you see how she froze up? Maybe it has something to do with her brother."

"Whatever it is, it seemed to tick her off big time." Joey said.

Tea looked back at the door, deciding on whether to follow Kayla or not. _"What happened to her in the past four years?"_

* * *

Kayla walked down the hall to her bedroom in silence. When she was finally in her room, alone, she pulled her backpack from the closet. She began to unpack her things.

Underneath all of her clothes, she stopped at a frames photo of her and her brother in Egypt. Her father had taken the picture right in front of the pyramids.

In the picture Kayla and her identical older brother Gavin, were both wearing sunglasses. Kayla was wearing a black tank top and cut denim shorts. Gavin wore a white t shirt and tan cargo pants.

The pose the two made was the typical brother-sister pose. Kayla doing a peace sign, and her brother hugging her.

The memories brought tears to her eyes. "Don't worry Gavin." She whispered. "I'm going to win this. Just hold on a little longer." She held the picture to her chest, as if she was holding her brother. She then placed the picture on her nightstand and got ready to fall asleep.

Unknown to Kayla, she'd left her bedroom door open, and Bakura was standing outside, listening and watching the whole thing. He'd seen the picture, and the pain it brought to Kayla.

Bakura smirked to himself. _"This gets even more interesting by the second. This girl will definitely become a part of my plans."_ With that thought in mind, Bakura walked down the hall to his own room. He couldn't wait to put his plan into action.

* * *

**A/N: So, for those of you reading this, what do _you_ think happened to Kayla's brother?**

**Next chapter will be up soon, so be on the look out for it.  
**


	3. Shattered Memories

Chapter Three

Shattered Memories

_Kayla watched in horror as Gavin fell to his knees. He placed his hands on the ground, dropping his cards, and scattering them all around him. He bowed his head. It was over._

_"Gavin, get up!" Kayla shouted from where she stood. "You can do this! I believe in you!"_

_"He's too strong Kayla." Gavin said in a shaky voice. "I can't do it."_

_Someone had spoken, but Kayla couldn't tell who. There was suddenly a bright light that flashed in front of Gavin. Kayla ran to her brother screaming his name. But it was too late. Gavin fell completely to the ground and she had lost him._

_Kayla dropped to her knees next to him. "What did you do to him? This wasn't a part of the duel!"_

_The man who had taken her brother from her laughed manically "Foolish girl. That idiot's first mistake was thinking that he could challenge me. This duel cost him his life."_

_I'll make you regret this you son of a bitch!" she growled. "You'll regret this. I swear it!"_

_The man turned away from her, smirking. "You'll join him, little Kayla. Mark my words."_

_He then walked away. Kayla cried out in anger and frustration. She shook Gavin and called out his name, but got no answers._

_She was alone now._

_

* * *

_

Kayla awoke suddenly, sitting up in her bed. Sweat and tears ran down her face, and she was breathing heavily. It was all just a dream. She sighed with relief.

She glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. It was eight o'clock in the morning! The finals started in a half an hour!

"Crap!" she said, jumping out of bed. She grabbed her jacket, tank top and boots. She replaced her skirt with a pair of dark boot cut jeans. She quickly changed, and slid her Duel Disk onto her arm. She slipped her deck into a case she had attached to her belt, and was ready to duel.

Her bracelet remained hidden under her jacket sleeve. She never took it off, and she didn't plan on dueling without it.

She stepped into the hallway to see Serenity and Joey heading in her direction. She smiled, and waved at them. "Hey guys." She said. "You running late too?"

Serenity nodded. "Joey overslept." She jerked her thumb towards her brother and smiled.

"Hey, I didn't know we had to be there at Eight-Thirty." Joey said in his defense. "I didn't get much sleep. Someone was screaming up a storm last night."

Kayla felt her face turn red. "That might've been me. I was having a nightmare."

"No big deal." Joey said, shrugging it off. "I'll just catch up on it tonight."

"We better hurry." Serenity said. "They'll be announcing the first duel soon."

"Serenity's right" Kayla said. "We should get going. Like, now." She checked her phone. Eight-Fifteen.

Joey took Serenity's hand and they started running towards the elevator. Kayla followed them. Once they were in the elevator, someone else was running after them.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Bakura shouted, waving his arm. Kayla pressed a button, holding the door open for him. He leapt into the elevator just before it closed. He looked at Kayla and smiled. "Thanks."

Kayla smiled back. "No problem."

Bakura smirked to himself when she looked away from him. He could still sense the power coming from her. If that bracelet she wore truly was a Millennium Item, it was a strong and powerful one.

_"Just another one to add to my collection."_ He thought. _"Even if it isn't a Millennium Item."_

**_"Don't hurt her."_** a faint and weak voice said in the back of his mind. It was Ryou, trying to break through his control. **_"You've hurt too many people for those Items. Please don't hurt her."_**

Bakura scowled, though he knew it would do him no good. Ryou was locked away deep within his mind. _"That's enough out of you Ryou."_ He snapped back. _"If this girl proves to be a problem, then I may 'hurt' her. Until then, you stay out of my business. You're unwanted at this moment."_

Bakura then closed off his mind from Ryou. The elevator doors then opened, and he could see Yugi and the rest of his pathetic friends waiting for them.

Kayla stepped out, and was greeted by everyone else. "How did you guys sleep last night?"

"I slept fine." Tea said with a smile, and the response was the same from everyone except for Duke, Yugi, and Joey. The three of them claimed to hear screams in the night.

Apparently, Yugi even went to Kayla's door last night, trying to check up on her.

Kayla bit her lip. "Sorry about that." She said. "I'm a heavy sleeper."

Yugi smiled at her. "It was no big deal, really. Just checking up on my friends."

For the first time since they'd met, Kayla finally noticed what hung from Yugi's neck. A golden upside down pyramid with an eye symbol hung from a chain around his neck.

"I've seen that before." She thought. Her mind suddenly went back to the time she was in Egypt.

* * *

_16-year-old Kayla and 18-year-old Gavin were on a tour bus heading towards the Pyramids. Her father, Jonathon was sitting behind them. He was taking pictures of them, despite Kayla's protests._

_The tour bus stopped in front of the Pyramids. Jonathon had told them to stand in front of them, which led to the picture Kayla now possessed._

_After those pictures were taken, Jonathon went off for a moment to grab some water bottles. Kayla noticed a man in tan robes standing nearby. He wore a white turban, large gold earrings, and an ankh shaped necklace around his neck._

_His eyes locked with hers, and he beckoned her to follow him._

_"Gavin, look." She had whispered. Gavin craned his neck towards the man. He looked at Gavin and nodded. "I think he wants us to follow him." Kayla whispered._

_Gavin looked suspiciously at him. "We shouldn't." he said. "It's too dangerous. Besides we don't even know if he's… Kayla!"_

_By the time he realized it, Kayla was already halfway towards the man. Gavin caught up to her and grabbed her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?"_

_Kayla shook her head. "I don't know. I get this feeling that… That I've seen this guy before. I get this feeling that I can trust him, and that I should follow him."_

_"Kayla, this is insane, you're old enough to know that this is beyond creepy."_

_"Trust me Gavin; I know what I'm doing." She walked towards him again._

_"I have been waiting for you, Kayla Edwards." The man said._

_"Waiting for me?" Kayla asked. "Why?"_

_He beckoned her to follow again. "Come. I will show you."_

_"No way." Gavin said. "You're not taking her anywhere." The man looked at him, no emotion showed in either his eyes or his face. "She must in order to discover her destiny."_

_"My destiny?" Kayla had asked._

_The man nodded, and started to walk away. "If you wish to know more, come with me."_

_Kayla looked at Gavin. "I have the feeling that I can trust him."_

_Gavin sighed. "You're not going without me then, that for sure."_

_The man had led them to a tomb hidden deep within the Pyramids. Kayla gasped in amazement by the hieroglyphs and carvings in the stone. She was walking into a piece of history._

_The three suddenly came upon a room. In the center of the room sat, what looked like, a sarcophagus. The man walked closer to it. "My family has guarded the item you are about to receive for centuries, Kayla." He walked past the sarcophagus to a statue of Isis. He grabbed onto the wrist of the statue, and something came off into his hand._

_"This item was designed to protect people from the dangers of the shadows." The man said. "And, it will protect you, Kayla." He walked back over to her, and took a hold of her wrist. He slid the bracelet onto her._

_"In a past life, you once wore this, and now it is yours once again. Use it well." There was a gust of wind, blowing sand and dust around the tomb, and the man was gone. Kayla gawked to the bracelet she now wore._

_"Look at it Gavin! It's beautiful." _

_Gavin frowned. "Something seemed really off about that guy. You should take that off, and we should get out of here. Who knows what he was doing?"_

_Kayla walked over to the sarcophagus. There were 7 large indents in it, as if some things were supposed to fill them. One of them was in the shape of an upside down pyramid._

_"Gavin, come look at this." She said, touching the pyramid shape._

_"Kayla?"_

_

* * *

_

"Kayla?"

Kayla blinked, coming back to the real world. "Huh? What?"

It was Yugi who had spoken. He noticed her staring at his Millennium Puzzle. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh. No." Kayla said. "I was just… remembering something." She touched her bracelet. She'd lied to them earlier about how she had gotten it, thinking that no one would believe her. But now, seeing that Yugi had somehow obtained an item like that, she felt confident that at least one person would.

"Attention duelists!" One of Kaiba's suits shouted.** (A/N: Anyone who gets the reference gets a gold star ^_^)**

Everyone turned, and looked at him. "Today, the first official battle of the Battle City Finals begins. Two of you will go head to head in a duel today. The one that loses this duel will lose their slot in the finals."

Kayla bit her lip. She couldn't afford to lose her slot. She had to win this. She had to win for her brother.

The man pulled a number out. "Our first duelist is…. Number Six. Ryou Bakura."

Bakura smiled. He couldn't wait to see who his next victim would be. He had a pretty good idea who it was going to be.

As the suit pulled another number out, Kayla's heart began to pound.

"Our next duelist is…. Number Eight….. Kayla Edwards."

* * *

**A/N: So I'm assuming most of you know who the guy in the turban was. (if you don't, then let me know, and i will clarify.) And yeah, you can tell I went off storyline with Kayla and Bakura being the first duel. But you know what….**

**Screw the rules, I write fan fictions. (Anybody who guesses that reference correctly also gets a gold star. ^_^)  
**


	4. Bakura vs Kayla

Chapter Four

Bakura vs. Kayla

**

* * *

**

** (A/N: Warning to the reader: it has been _FOREVER_ since I last played the actual card game, so I will have to refer to the show and the wiki at some points. Just letting people know ahead of time in case a screw up somehow. (This for me is practically guaranteed.) But enough talk. BACK TO THE ACTION.))**

* * *

Kayla looked at Bakura. He seemed disappointed about the outcome. She watched as he walked over to the man named Namu, and pulled him into the hall. Seeing it as none of her business, she ignored it.

Bakura dragged Marik into the hall. "What the hell was that! You said that you would use the power of the Millennium Rod to make sure that I dueled with the Pharaoh!" he growled.

Marik brushed Bakura's hand away. "I tried doing that. Something interfered with the connection of my Rod. A powerful force stopped my signal."

Bakura glanced back at Kayla. "How powerful would you say it was?"

"Stronger than any other power I have felt. Stronger than any of the Millennium Items." Marik looked in the direction Bakura was looking. "You think she's the power source?"

"I do." Bakura said. "Whether it was intentionally or not, she did it somehow." Then, a thought came to mind.

_"Maybe dueling her isn't such a bad idea. I could get her bracelet ahead of schedule, and find out what it does in time to duel the Pharaoh."_

He looked back at Marik. "You're lucky that girl possesses something I desire, Marik. Otherwise you would regret that little mistake."

Marik glared at him. "Watch it, Bakura. You're forgetting that I also possess something you want."

Bakura backed off, and walked back to the crowd. He looked at Kayla and put on a fake smile. "It will be a pleasure to duel you officially, Kayla."

Kayla smiled, and nodded. "May the better duelist win."

"Yes." Bakura said. _"And may that better duelist be me."_

_

* * *

_

The group walked to the elevator, and went up one more floor to the top of the blimp. Kaiba had set up a dueling arena there. Kayla stepped onto her side of the arena, and slipped her deck into her duel disk. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

_"Gavin, where ever you are, I want you to know that I trust in your deck. Give me the strength to win this duel."_

Bakura stepped onto his platform and did the same thing as Kayla. "Now, before we begin, there is something I must tell you, Kayla. You see, I'm not always…. Myself."

His voice grew deeper, and there was a fire in his eyes now. Something under his shirt glowed.

"What's going on with Bakura?" Tea gasped.

A necklace suddenly appeared from under Bakura's shirt. It was a gold ring with a pyramid in the center, and five pointers. The center of the pyramid had an eye symbol on it.

"Aw man!" Joey shouted, jumping back from where he stood. "He's wearing that Millennium Ring again!"

"No way!" Tristan said. "I got rid of that in Duelist Kingdom. I'm sure of it!"

Kayla gasped. She'd seen that ring before. Or at least something like it."

* * *

_"Kayla, you shouldn't be touching that. We're not even supposed to be down here!"_

_"But Gavin, come look. There are seven spaces in this coffin. Do you think something is supposed to fill them?"_

_"Kayla, let's just get out of here." he took a hold of her arm. Her fingers trailed over the shape of the ring. The necklace._

The necklace Bakura now wore.

* * *

Kayla took a step back, and ran into the platform's railing. How were people getting these items?

Bakura smirked. "You seem nervous Kayla. Don't be. The quicker we get to this duel, the quicker you'll be reunited with your brother Gavin."

Tea looked up at Kayla. "What does he mean by that Kayla?"

Kayla ignored her and glared at Bakura. "How do you know about that?"

"I have friends in certain places. One friend in particular was there the day you lost your brother to the Shadow Realm."

Kayla could hear Tea, Mai, and Serenity gasp.

"Wait a second, you lied to us." Tea pointed out. Kayla turned and looked at them. "Could you blame me? I didn't think you'd believe me. Hell, I still have a hard time understanding it."

"Enough of this." Kaiba shouted. "Either you start this duel now, or both of you will lose your slot in the finals."

Bakura's smirk widened. "Yes Kayla, let's start the show now. We don't want to keep your brother waiting."

Kayla growled. "Alright. I'll make my move." She drew her hand. She remembered back to yesterday when Bakura almost beat her in ten minutes! She was definitely going to avoid that this time. "Alright." She said. "I place one card face down, and play Mystical Elf in defense mode. It's your move now."

Bakura smiled. "Before I make my move, I say we take this game to the Shadow Realm."

Kayla gasped. "No!"

Bakura's Millennium Ring began to glow, and the entire top floor of the blimp was covered in darkness. "The loser of this duel will lose their slot in the finals, their Millennium Items, and their souls."

"I know how a Shadow Game works." Kayla snapped. "Just make your damn move already.

"My, my. Someone has a temper today." Bakura said mockingly. "That can be easily fixed. I play the Lady of Faith in attack mode, and play my magic card, The Change of Heart. I can now gain control over one of your monsters. And since you only have one on the field, I choose your Mystical Elf."

Kayla's Mystical Elf slowly disappeared, the reappeared on Bakura's side of the field. "Now my Lady of Faith, attack her life points directly!"

"Reveal face down card!" Kayla said. "Spellbinding circle. Meaning your Lady of Faith is trapped on your side of the field, unable to attack or change positions until she is destroyed. And if I am correct, that ends your turn."

"Luck was on your side once Kayla." Bakura growled. "Don't expect it to be again."

"It wasn't luck." She said, drawing her card. "It was faith. Faith in my brother, and faith in his deck." She looked at her card, and smiled. "I play Enchanting Mermaid in attack mode. And since you're turn is over, I regain control over my Mystical Elf.

Her brother was always into the feminine cards, to him they seemed pretty powerful. He had said once that each of his main cards reminded him of some woman that was important in his life. He'd said that the Mystical Elf reminded him of their mother, who had died when Kayla was born. She had stayed strong when everything got tough.

Kayla closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, stopping herself from breaking down. The memories were all so painful.

When she opened them again, she brought up her hand. "Enchanting Mermaid, attack his Lady of Faith!"

The hologram charged at Bakura's monster and whipped her tail at it. The attack caused his Lady of Faith to shatter, and make him loose 1,100 life points.

Even though Bakura lost the life points, Kayla suddenly felt weaker, but she ignored it. "You underestimated me Bakura." she said.

Bakura smiled. "1,100 life points? That's it? A small price to pay, but no matter. This duel will be over soon, and I will have your Millennium Item."

Yugi looked at Kayla. _"What Item could she possess?"_ he thought to Yami.

_"I'm not sure, Yugi. Whatever it is, she's doing a good job of hiding it from us. I must ask her."_

With that said, Yami took over Yugi's form. "Kayla." He said.

Kayla heard a deep voice call her name. She turned around to see Yugi. But it couldn't have been Yugi… Something didn't seem right about him.

"What do you have that Bakura could want?"

"Stay out of this Pharaoh." Bakura growled. " This is _my_ duel."

Kayla sighed. "I'm not exactly sure if I have these Millennium Items like you do, but I think I know what he wants." She brought up her arm, and rolled down her jacket sleeve. Her bracelet shone in the light emanating from her duel disk.

Yami's eyes widened at the sight of it. It seemed so familiar to him. He had to have somehow seen it in his past. He just couldn't remember. "Kayla, do you know why he would want it?"

She shook her head. "I don't care what his reasoning is, I won't let him get it." She turned around, ready to get back to the duel, when suddenly, Bakura had summoned a monster and attacked her Enchanting Mermaid.

The force behind the attack was so great it knocked Kayla off her feet. It was too powerful to be a hologram.

Then she remembered, that was what a shadow game did. It weakens the player's opponent, and makes the monsters real.

Kayla fell back and struck her head on the railing. She could hear Tea and Yugi screaming her name, and before she knew it, everything went black.


	5. Lost Among Shadows

Chapter Five

Lost Among Shadows

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** (A/N: So, funny story, a guy friend of mine is reading this. So today he told me that he liked Kayla….. So apparently, Kayla has her first fan boy! How cool is that?)**

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Mokuba Kaiba looked up at his brother in shock. "Seto, we have to stop this duel now! People are really getting hurt here!"

Kaiba clenched a fist. He hated to call off a duel this earlier, and just when it was getting good.

Tea ran up onto the platform and knelt down next to Kayla. "Kayla come on." She said. "Wake up. Please." She shook her slightly, but it did nothing.

Bakura smirked. "Your words will do nothing to wake her, Tea. She is no longer of this world. By falling back, she has cost herself the match. She has lost this duel, along with her soul."

Yugi got up on the platform with Tea. "Get Kayla back to her room, Tea. I can handle this." He turned to Bakura. "Spirit, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you return Kayla's soul and her slot in the finals."

Bakura's smirk grew wider. "Just what I was waiting for." He said. "And when I win, I'll possess your Egyptian God Card along with your Millennium Puzzle. And you can join your little girl friend in the Shadow Realm."

"Yugi can't just call a duel like that, can he?" Mokuba asked Seto.

Kaiba said nothing. He just stared at the two duelists below him, with a small smile on his face. **(A/N: Every time Kaiba smiles, a puppy dies.)**

"Let this duel commence." Kaiba said. Mokuba's eyes widened, but he said nothing to defy his brother.

Joey got on the platform to help Tea carry Kayla back to the elevator.

"Are you prepared to lose it all Pharaoh?" Bakura asked.

"I won't lose to you Spirit." Yugi said, turning on his duel disk. _"The fate of the world and my friends depend on it."_

Before the elevator doors closed, Joey shouted, "Don't worry Yug. You can beat that creep!"

"We're here for you Yugi." Tea added. Yugi turned to them, and gave them a thumbs up. He then turned to Bakura. "Let's duel."

The elevator doors closed, and Tea quickly pressed the second floor button. "Come on." She mumbled impatiently.

Joey looked at her, concerned. "Hey, Tea? Don't worry 'bout it. Yugi will win, and Kayla will be good as new tomorrow."

Tea nodded, but didn't say anything. Her best friend was in the Shadow Realm now. All she could think of was if she was alright.

* * *

_Kayla opened her eyes to darkness. It was so dark; she thought she was still unconscious. She sat up. Somehow, despite the darkness, she was able to see herself. It was also extremely cold._

_She stood up and looked around. There was absolutely nothing. She was alone._

_She quickly thought back to what happened. She was dueling Bakura… and then she blacked out. But where was she now?_

_"Hello!" she called, hoping for an answer. All she heard was the faint echo of her voice._

_She started walking, unsure if her feet were even touching solid ground. She tried checking her cell phone to see the time, but it had died. Her duel disk wouldn't even turn on to provide light._

_"Damn it." she mumbled. "Where the hell am I?"_

_"You're another soul cast off to the shadows." A familiar voice said._

_Kayla slowly turned around, unable to believe the voice she'd heard. But she was right. It was exactly who she thought it was._

_She turned to see her older brother, Gavin. "No." she whispered. "I… I can't be! I didn't lose the duel. I just fell, that's all."_

_Gavin shook his head. "I was watching Kayla. That fall cost you the duel. Now, one of your friends is dueling in your place."_

_Kayla put her face in her hands. "Gavin… Gavin I'm sorry. I failed you. I promised you'd I'd make that bastard Marik pay…"_

_Gavin put his arms around his sister. "Kay, it wasn't your fault. And you didn't fail. That Bakura kid attacked you from behind. There was nothing you could do."_

_Kayla sighed. "I'm stuck here now, aren't I?"_

_Gavin smiled. "You won't be for long. Your friend Yugi is dueling Bakura, and he's winning. You'll be out of here soon."_

_"Come with me Gavin."She said. Gavin shook his head. "I can't Kayla. My soul must be release by the man who sent me here."_

_"Marik." Kayla hissed._

_Gavin nodded. "Give him hell for me, Kayla. Show him what happens when you mess with us. Show no mercy. And Kayla? Keep a close eye on that bracelet. It's not what everyone thinks it is, but it still a very powerful item."_

_Kayla nodded. "An don't worry." Gavin added. "Everything will be explained to you in time. Everything will become clear. We play a bigger role in this than you think."_

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kayla asked._

_Kayla suddenly felt a sharp tug on her mind. And slowly her body began to fade. "Looks like Yugi pulled through for you, Kay." Gavin said. "Good luck in the finals. Have faith in your deck. And most of all, have faith in yourself."_

_"Gavin, wait! I'm not ready to go back yet. Gavin!"_

_

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_

Kayla felt a cool hand touch her shoulder, and she immediately shot up in her bed with a sharp cry.

"Jesus Joey!" Tea scolded. "I said to wake her up gently, not scare the living crap out of her."

Kayla panted and looked around. Her light was on, so she could see now. It was funny how much she'd missed it within the short time of being in the Shadow Realm. Everyone except for the Kaiba brothers and Bakura were standing in her room.

"Good to see that you're awake Kayla." Yugi said, his voice gone back to normal. "We were all beginning to worry about you."

"Thanks." Kayla said. "How long was I out?"

Everyone was silent, hesitating to answer her question. Tea bit her lip, and finally spoke. "About five hours."

"Five hours!" Kayla shouted. "Don't tell me it took Yugi that long to finish the duel!"

"Oh no." Yugi said. "I was able to finish in about thirty minutes. But you were still unconscious for some reason."

"What happened to Bakura?" Kayla asked, not knowing why she cared.

"He's in his room, in the same state that you were in." Namu said.

"There's something we need to explain to you, Kayla." Tea said. "Something about Bakura and Yugi."

Kayla sighed. "Good. Because I have some explaining of my own to do."


	6. Explanations Galore

Chapter Six

Explanations Galore

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**(A/N: Quick question to all of my readers out there. Was Marik's evil self referred to as Yami Marik, or Malik? Or some other name that I should probably know? I've seen it used differently for a bunch of different things. Do you think you guys could help me out a bit?)**

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Tea explained to Kayla about how both Yugi and Bakura had Millennium Items that housed ancient spirits that would sometimes possess the two teens. Yugi's spirit was known as Yami, and was once an Egyptian Pharaoh. But the friends knew little of Bakura's spirit, only that he once called himself "a thief and a stealer of souls."

In the duel that took place during Kayla's unconsciousness, it was revealed that both the Spirit of the Millennium Ring and Ryo were both under the control of Marik and his Millennium Rod. When they were freed from his control, the Spirit left Ryo's body causing him to collapse. He was now in his room, unconscious, just as Kayla was before.

"So let me get this straight." Kayla said. "Ancient spirits possess Yugi and Bakura through their Millennium Items, and duel each other in Shadow Games?"

Yugi nodded. "But Yami isn't like Bakura's spirit. He's good. He's trying to protect the world, but at the same time, tries to remember his past. It's all pretty crazy, I know."

Kayla sighed, taking it all in. "There are just some parts of it that are hard to grasp, that's all. In fact, I can relate with some of these experiences."

"We all had a hard time believing it." Joey said.

Kayla nodded, understanding. "Alright. My turn for the explanations." She took a deep breath, trying to think of where to begin. "Alright, here goes. My experiences with this sort of stuff started last summer. My dad took me and my brother Gavin on a trip to Egypt. We got to see the Pyramids. In fact,"

She took the framed photo from her nightstand. "That's what this picture is, my brother and I."

Tea thought back a couple years, when she and Kayla were younger. She remembered having a crush on Gavin, which Kayla found gross. She blushed slightly. Kayla saw this and smiled, remembering the same exact thing as Tea.

"But, anyways, my brother and I met this guy who took us into this tomb. I trusted him completely, for some odd reason, but my brother was skeptical. He led us into the tomb, and showed us this sarcophagus with these different shaped slots in it… I think I saw a slot for Yugi's Puzzle, and possible Bakura's Millennium Ring."

"This man you saw," Yugi said. "What did he look like?"

Kayla thought for a moment. "Tall, tanned. He wore a turban, and robes. He also wore this big Ankh pendent and earrings. Why?"

"We've met him too." Yugi replied. "Yami and I both did. His name is Shadi."

Something clicked then in Kayla's head. _"Why does that sound so familiar?" _She racked her brain, trying to find a connection. She found nothing, and quickly dismissed the thought.

"But anyways, I want to move on to why I'm in this tournament in the first place. You see, we moved back here about a week before the tournament started. My brother registered for the tournament the moment he'd heard about it. I thought I'd tag along to watch him duel, and learn some pointers.

"My brother challenged the first duelist he saw, which happened to be a Rare Hunter. Him I remember clearly. He was tall, and muscular. He had a deep voice, and half of his face had hieroglyphs, or something like that tattooed onto it."

"Marik." Yugi gasped.

Kayla nodded. "It wasn't long after the duel started that my brother realized what he'd gotten himself into. Marik quickly turned the duel into a Shadow Game. Gavin was losing fast, and I tried to encourage him. It did nothing. But then…. He… he summoned this card…. This monster…. I was so incredible, yet so terrifying. I didn't even know it existed.

"He said it was called the 'Winged Dragon of Ra' and boy was it powerful. It knocked out all of my brother's life points in one hit… He'd lost the duel… and his soul."

Tea put an arm around her friend. "I am so sorry Kayla."

"Don't be." She said. "I'm in this tournament to get my brother out of that god forsaken place, and that's just what I'm going to do."

She glanced over at Namu, who was staring at her and smirking. He was another guy who gave her the creeps. _"What is with the people in this tournament?"_ she thought.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starvin'." Joey said, after a long silence. "I think I'll go raid the kitchen down the hall."

Kayla stomach growled, and she smiled. "Hold on there, Joey. I'll come with."

Tea yawned. "I think I'll head to bed." The others nodded at that, and they all left Kayla's room.

Kayla followed Joey, who within a few minutes of being in the kitchens, had practically cleared out the fridge. Kayla made herself a sandwich.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were starving, Joey." Kayla said with a smile.

Joey grinned. "Yeah, when it comes to food, I don't mess around."

Kayla gave a small laugh. "Alright then, I guess I'll leave you to your food. Have fun."

"Mm hmm." Joey said with his mouth full, giving her a thumbs up.

Kayla walked down the hall, deep in thought. Some of Yugi's story was starting to make sense to her now. But the name Shadi and the memories from Egypt kept coming back to her. _"What does it all mean?"_ she wondered.

Kayla was so lost in thought that she didn't see Namu walking towards her in the hall. She bumped into him, their collision causing her deck and his deck to slip out of their Duel Disks. The cards scattered all over the floor.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Kayla said, getting down on the floor to help pick up the cards. Namu did the same. He looked at her and smiled. "It's no problem my dear lady. Accidents happen."

Kayla ran her hands through her hair. She'd found half of her deck in the mess. "I'm such a klutz."

Namu shrugged at her. "It's no big deal." He'd somehow found all of his cards, and shoved it back into his Duel Disk. He stacked up the rest, and handed them to Kayla. "I believe these are yours my dear?"

Kayla hesitated for a moment. Something about him made him untrustworthy in her eyes. "Thanks." She said, slowly taking the cards from his hand.

"What's the matter?" Namu asked. "I won't bite."

Kayla gave a shaky laugh. "Right. Sorry. Just… still a bit shaken up from earlier that's all. Anyways, thanks again. And again, I apologize."

Namu smirked as she walked away. _His _own plan was now being put into action. For now hidden deep in her deck, was a counterfeit Winged Dragon of Ra card. And when the time came that she'd use it, it would be her end.

_"One less of the Pharaoh's little Priestesses to deal with_." He thought to himself.

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**(A/N: Alright, so another note to the readers, I'm having a poll on my profile based on this Fan Fic. And! If you check out my profile, you can see the link to my Youtube channel and the Cards of Destiny Trailer! Let me know what you guys think if you're at all interested.**

**Peace! ^_^)**


	7. Me and Ryo Talking

Chapter Seven

Me and Ryo Talking

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**(A/N: First off, I'd like to thank all of you who voted in my poll! And all those votes will pay off now! Second off, I got the title of this chapter from a Miranda Lambert song, "Me and Charlie Talking" I thought it would fit.)**

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Kayla slipped her deck back into her Duel Disk as she walked back to her room. "That was really strange." she mumbled. She stopped suddenly as her eye caught an open door. In the room was a weak, pale haired boy laying on his bed.

Kayla almost didn't recognize him. "Bakura." She gasped. _"They weren't kidding when they said he was knocked out."_

She walked into his room and stood next to his bed. She could tell some differences between him and the Spirit. The Spirit had more of an aggressive and malevolent look to him, where as this Bakura had a very passive and innocent look.

Kayla felt sorry for him. She could only imagine what was going through his mind.

She placed her hand over his. His eyes suddenly shot open. He gasped, and shot up in his bed. Kayla stepped back. "Bakura, I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to see if you were alright."

He looked at her with big brown eyes that reminded her of a puppy's. "It's alright. Not to worry." He smiled slightly. "Might I ask you your name?"

"Kayla." She said. "_Did he really not remember it? How long was he possessed?"_

"Kayla…" he said, trailing off into thought. His eyes widened. "Oh my god…. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Kayla asked.

"For what he put you through. That Shadow Game, and the reminding you of your brother. I'm sorry he did that."

"It wasn't your fault Bakura. There wasn't anything you could do."

"Please don't call me that." He said quickly. "That's what they called_ him_. Just call me by my first name. Call me Ryo. Please."

Kayla could see pain and fear in his eyes. Being possessed by that maniac must've been like hell to him. "Alright. Ryo."

He seemed to relax at that. "Thank you."

"Look, I don't want to cause you any problems. I'm sorry about all of this. I'll just leave."

"No, wait!" Ryo said. "You don't have to. It's no problem at all. Please stay, I don't have anyone to talk to." He closed his eyes. "They… They don't look at me the same way anymore."

"You mean Yugi, and his friends?"

Ryo nodded. "It's because of him. The Spirit. He's done things that make them afraid of me now."

Kayla sat down on the bed next to him. "Ryo, they're not afraid of you. They're afraid for you. They don't know what to do when you become possessed. They can't exactly do anything to the spirit with it affecting you, am I right?"

Ryo nodded. "That doesn't change much. This Spirit is still ruining my life. He's hurt innocent people, all for these stupid Millennium Items. He's nearly killed my friends. And the worst part is I'm forced to listen to the horrible things he plans. I'm forced to see the horrific thoughts running through his mind. He sometimes makes me watch when he takes control."

He looked at Kayla, his smile now gone, and the fear showing even more in his eyes. "He had horrible thoughts when he was around you."

Kayla shivered at that. She knew there was something about that Spirit she didn't like the moment they met. "Like what?" she asked, almost hesitantly.

Ryo shook his head. "I don't want to repeat them. They were awful."

Kayla took his hand. "I'm sorry, Ryo. I'm sorry you have to live through this. I can only imagine what it must be like."

Ryo gave a small smile, and closed his hand over hers. "Thank you, Kayla. It means a lot to know someone isn't afraid of me." Kayla smiled back.

"There is something else though." Ryo said. "When he's around you, he starts to remember a name. But when he tries to trace it back to the owner of the name, he can't remember."

Kayla looked at him confused. "So, I remind him of somebody?"

"Kind of." Ryo said. "When you're around, he starts thinking of this name. Kaia."

"Kaia." Kayla repeated. That sounded almost as familiar as Shadi. "Does he think about anything else involving that name?"

Ryo shook his head. "He's been trying to figure it out for two days now. It's driving him practically insane."

Kayla thought over the name. It was really close to hers, was the Spirit trying to compare her to someone he knew? It didn't make much sense to her. But after a minute, she let it go. She'd have to think of it later.

"He's really interested in your bracelet, Kayla." Ryo said. Kayla nodded. "I've noticed."

"He's really interested in you in general. He said that he has plans for you, but he's never said it out loud. Not in front of me at least."

"Don't worry about it." Kayla said. "I'm not afraid of him."

"You're not?" Ryo asked. "You better not say that in front of him. He's really good at being frightening."

"I have enough to deal with as it is." Kayla said. "I'm not going to let him scare me. If I didn't have something important at stake here, I probably would be afraid of him. Hell, if things were different, he'd scare the ever living crap out of me. But things _aren't _different. And I'm _not_ afraid."

"You're very brave." Ryo said. "I wish I could be like that. But the thing is, he frightens me and he knows it."

"You need to be strong, Ryo. You can fight back against him. I know it." Kayla put a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, Ryo grabbed onto Kayla's wrist and slammed her against the wall, pinning her there by her shoulder with his other hand. His face was inches from hers. His eyes turned blood red, and a fire seemed to burn in them.

"So, you're not afraid of me huh." He growled. Kayla fought to get away from him. He smiled cruelly at her. "I'll make you fear me, one way or another little Kayla. And let this be a warning to you. Our little game isn't over."

The fire left his eyes, changing quickly back to Ryo's. He released Kayla, and slumped forward. Kayla helped him sit back up. He shook his head and looked up at her. "What just happened? I blacked out for a moment." He noticed that the color was completely gone from her face. "Kayla? What's wrong?"

Kayla shook her head. _"I'm not afraid of him."_ She repeated in her mind. She looked down at Ryo. "Nothing's wrong. You just fell over, and it kind of scared me. Maybe you should get some rest."

"Yes. I think you're right." Kayla helped him lay down again, and she started to walk out of the room. When she stood in the door way, she heard Ryo say, "Thank you again, Kayla."

"You're welcome." Kayla said. She then stepped into the hall, and headed back to her room. _"I have to help him."_ She thought. _"I can't let that Spirit torment him like this anymore. There has to be a way to help him. There just has to be."_


	8. The Priestess and the Thief

Chapter Eight

The Priestess and the Thief

_"Look what we've got here boys. A little priestess foolish enough to come through our lands at night."_

_ A young girl dressed in a dark blue chiton stood surrounded by three men and backed up against a rock. They were standing in the middle of a desert. The girl looked a lot like Kayla, except that her skin was darker toned. She wore gold arm bands, and a gold Ankh pendent. On her right wrist was a turquoise and gold bracelet. In her hand she held a dagger._

_ "These lands belong to the Pharaoh." The girl spat._

_ The man that had first spoken to her laughed. "Not anymore. The Thief King has claimed these lands as his, and you're trespassing here girly. You know what we do with trespassers?" _

_ Another man grabbed at her arm. The girl quickly reacted by stabbing at him with her dagger. As if he'd seen her attack coming, he grabbed onto her wrist and pinned it behind her back, forcing her to drop her dagger._

_ "This one's got some fight in her." the man who grabbed her laughed. The girl fought to get out of his grasp, but the man only tightened his grip. "Maybe we should let her stay a little longer. She's not like the other ones."_

_ "Let me go!" the girl growled._

_ "Not likely girly." The first man said. "Looks like we have some company tonight boys. Let's head back to camp."_

_ "What in Ra's name is going on here?"_

_ The voice made all three men stop in their tracks. The girl's heart pounded in her chest. All three men turned to see a white haired man dressed in red robes that exposed his tanned chest. He had lavender eyes, and a pale scar lining his right eye._

_ "B… Bakura!" The first man gasped. "We… We were just dealing with a trespasser."_

_ "I can see that. You were planning on bedding this girl here. We kill trespassers, and you know that Adofo."_

_ "We… We just..."_

_ "Enough." Bakura hissed. "I'll deal with her. All three of you head back to camp now. And feel lucky that you're not being punished for this."_

_ The man holding the girl finally let go. He then pushed her out of the way, causing her to fall to the ground. "Yes sir. Right away sir." _

_ They started running then, heading back to their horses. Bakura looked at the girl, and grabbed her wrist. "Get up you. You'll regret trespassing in my lands." He yanked her up from the ground, and kept a firm hold in her wrist. He drew a dagger from his belt. He glanced over his shoulder for a second, and then looked back at the girl._

_ He pulled back the dagger, preparing to strike. The girl closed her eyes, waiting for the blade to take her life._

_ She felt it slice into her arm, and she gasped. She eyes shot open and saw Bakura wiping the blade, covering it in her blood. The girl looked at him, confused._

_ "Run. Now." Bakura whispered, releasing her._

_ "What?" The girl asked, bewildered._

_ "Didn't you hear me girl?" he snapped. "I said run. Go back, and never come here again."_

_ "You're… You're letting me go?"_

_ Bakura's eyes narrowed. "Yes. Now go before I change my mind."_

_ The girl turned, and started off at a jog. She looked back at Bakura, still standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. She stopped for a moment, and turned completely around. "Thank you."_

_ Bakura shook his head, and pointed in the direction she was heading. The girl turned, and started to run._

_ She'd been one of the very few who'd laid eyes upon the Thief King, and lived._

* * *

Kayla awoke to the alarm clock in her room. She jabbed at the off button with her thumb until the alarm finally stopped. The dreams were keeping her up that night.

Suddenly, Kaiba's voice came on the intercom. "All duelists please report to the main hall for breakfast, then the drawing of the next duel."

Kayla looked at the clock and groaned. It was 6:30! "For god sake." She mumbled. "Does Kaiba ever sleep?"

She sat up and stretched. She had to be ready in case her number was drawn again. She stayed with wearing her jeans instead of her skirt, and changed out her tank top with a white tee shirt. She left her jacket in her room as well.

Then, an idea came to her. She wanted to learn more about the name Ryo had mentioned yesterday. She pulled her Laptop bag out of the closet, and slung it over her shoulder. She then stepped out of her room.

The moment she did, Yugi and the gang were walking down the hall. She smiled at them. "Perfect timing guys."

Yugi smiled at that. "We were just about to see if you were awake."

"Well, I am." She said. "Hey, has anyone checked on Ryo lately?"

They all shook their heads. "Why?" Tea asked.

"He woke up last night, and I was able to talk to him. I was just wondering if he was awake now."

"We can check on him on the way to breakfast." Yugi suggested.

"There's no need for that." A quiet voice said. Kayla turned and saw Ryo standing behind her with a smile on his face. He was looking a lot better.

"Ryo, are you sure you're feeling well enough to be walking around?" Kayla asked.

"I appreciate the concern, Kayla. But I'm fine. Like you said, I just needed some rest."

Yugi wasn't so sure about that. This had happened before. He didn't know if he could trust Bakura this time. He wasn't even sure if he was wearing the Millennium Ring or not.

"Can we just get goin' already?" Joey said. "I'm starvin' here."

"I don't know how you are." Kayla said. "You nearly cleared out the fridge last night."

Joey grinned at that, and everyone started walking together to the elevators.

After what had happened last night, Kayla still felt nervous around Ryo. The thought of Ryo snapping back to The Spirit Bakura at any second worried her.

Ryo could sense Kayla tensing up near him. He looked at her, concerned. "Are you alright Kayla? You seem nervous."

Kayla looked back at him. "Huh? Oh, right. I'm just… Nervous about the tournament that's all."

"I'm not wearing the ring." Ryo whispered. "I don't know what happened to it last night, but I promise you I'm not wearing it now."

Kayla relaxed a bit at that. She quickly changed the subject. "I'm going to be researching today on that name you mentioned, Kaia. Would you like to help?"

Ryo's eyes seemed to light up. "Sure. That sounds fun."

Kayla smiled, and stepped into the elevator. She felt her heart pound in her chest. What if her number was pulled again? She couldn't afford to lose her slot. But then, a more terrifying thought came to mind. Marik was in the finals too, and in order to win, she would most likely have to face him. She swallowed hard, not wanting to think about it.

But no matter how hard she tried, the same thought came back. What chance did she have against his Winged Dragon of Ra?


	9. Research

Chapter Nine

Research

**((A/N: Alright, so I'm getting this out now, there may be a slight decrease in posting since I have the ever dreaded finals coming up *shudders* and I gots to study. But fear not. Any drastic decreases will be made up for the week after. Also, I've been considering this for a while, I've been planning on making this into a three part series (part two being season 4, then part three season 5. Season 3 will be included in this.) Does that sound like a good idea? Let me know what you think! ****:) ))**

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After breakfast, Kayla pulled out her laptop and sat down. She logged in, and got onto the internet. She sighed with relief when she did. The blimp had Wi-fi.

_"Kaiba's done at least one good thing in this tournament."_ She thought.

She started looking up the name Kaia. Within two links she found out that it was a Greek name meaning "pure".

"Doesn't help much." She mumbled.

"Did you find anything Kayla?" Ryo asked. She shook her head. "Not much. Just the origin of the name. He didn't happen to mention a last name, did he?"

Ryo shook his head. "Not that I can remember." Kayla sighed, and looked back at the screen. She still found nothing.

Then, she finally found a lead. "Kaia Mubarak." She said out loud. It sounded familiar in her mind. She went with her instincts, and clicked it.

She read over it, and her eyes widened in surprise. She looked up from her laptop. "Ryo come check this…." She noticed that no one else was in the room other than Ryo. "Where did everyone go?"

"The numbers for the next duel were drawn. Weren't you listening?"

"No. I got so drawn into this; I kind of tuned everyone out. Whose numbers were drawn?"

Ryo shrugged. "All I know is that Joeys was one of them I didn't hear the other one."

Kayla sighed. "What was it you wanted me to look at?" Ryo asked.

"Oh. Come look at this article I found. I think I might have found the Kaia we're looking for."

Ryo walked over and sat down next to her. She read aloud from the web page.

_"Kaia Mubarak was said to be one of the most famous priestesses in The Great Pharaoh's court. She was known for her good deeds, fearless attitude, and quick temper. It was rumored that she'd even saved the Pharaoh's life during a Thief King raid._

_"Though not much is truly known of Kaia, she was well loved and respected throughout the court. She cared for the needy, and even fought against criminals that threatened the throne. She was even considered to be the Pharaoh's personal bodyguard._

_"Among her remains, a bracelet was found. This bracelet was rumored to be the ancient 'Guardian Bracelet.' Specifically created to protect the wearer from the dangers of the ancient Shadow Games. It was left in the tomb her body was found in, for the rumored powers it was said to contain. Superstitious archeologists dared not to touch it."_

Kayla looked down at her own bracelet. Could this "Guardian Bracelet" be the one she now wore? Shadi had said that she wore it in a past life. Could Kaia have been her past life?

She discussed it with Ryo. He nodded slightly. "It's possible. So many things thought impossible have been proven lately." He had a point there.

With that said Kayla continued to read.

_"Her love life is almost as sketchy as her history, though it is slightly implied through ancient texts and writings that she was romantically involved with the Pharaoh. No evidence has been found to validate these theories…"_

"That's a lie!" Ryo seemed to growl.

"Huh?" Kayla asked. Ryo was shaking now. "Ryo, what's wrong?"

"She didn't love that son of a bitch." He growled. "She loved me!"

Kayla jumped up from her seat, something didn't seem right here. She gasped. Ryo had begun to change again. The Spirit was taking over his body again. A light glowed from under his shirt, and the Millennium Ring appeared.

He stood up and glared at her. Kayla backed up until her back hit a wall._ "Not this again."_

Bakura ran up and grabbed Kayla's wrist, the one she wore her bracelet on, and pinned her against the wall. "So, this isn't a Millennium Item at all." He said. "Yes… I remember now. You look so much like her." He traced the outline of Kayla's face with his finger, making her shiver.

But you're _not_ like her are you." He growled. "You're too weak and powerless to be anything close to how she was."

Kayla tried to get away. She brought up her leg to kick him, but he stopped it with his other hand. He looked over at her bracelet. "You don't even deserve to wear this." He growled. "You mock her memory."

He yanked on the bracelet in an attempt to remove it from her wrist, but it refused to budge. He ended up pulling her arm with it. He threw her to the ground. "If I can't remove the bracelet, then maybe I should try to remove the hand that wears it." he pulled a pocket knife from his back pocket.

Kayla staggered to her feet, and started running, but Bakura grabbed onto her ankle, sending her to the floor again. Her grabbed onto her wrist.

"Bakura stop!" Kayla screamed. She expected her voice to crack. She truly was afraid now. But there was power behind her voice; power she didn't even know existed in her.

Bakura stopped at the sound o her voice. His eyes widened, and he looked at her astonished. "Kaia." He whispered. He dropped the knife and clutched his head. He then dropped completely to the floor.

The last words he spoke were, "Forgive me." Then, the spirit left Ryo's body again.

Kayla touched Ryo's shoulder. "Ryo?" no response came. She helped him sit up, and shook him. "Ryo? Answer me! Ryo!"

Ryo's eyes fluttered open. The moment his vision focused, he was staring directly into Kayla's eyes. Eyes that showed both concern, and fear. Ryo pushed himself away from her and stood up, his hands shaking. He'd seen everything.

"Stay away from me Kayla." He said, he voice shaking almost as hard as his hands. "Stay back."

"Ryo, there wasn't anything you could've done." She said, standing up.

"Yes there was!" Ryo argued. "I could've been strong. I could've fought back! But no, I sat and watched like a coward while he nearly cut your hand off. Face it Kayla, my weakness isn't an excuse anymore."

"Ryo…" Kayla said, reaching out to him. He stepped away from her. "Please Kayla, just stay away. I… I can't risk hurting anyone anymore…. I'm…. I'm sorry." He turned on his heel and ran off, tears framing his eyes.

"Ryo!" Kayla shouted, about to go after him. Suddenly, someone else called her name.

"Kayla? You in here?" She turned and saw Tea waiting for her. "Kayla come on! Joey's dueling Marik, and he needs all of us there to support him!"

"Joey's dueling Marik!" Kayla gasped. "Oh no. We need to warn him about his God Card! If Marik summons that, Joey's done for!"

"Let's go then! We don't have much time!"

Tea grabbed onto Kayla's hand, and led her to the upper deck where Joey and Marik stood, preparing to duel.

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**A/N: Fun fact, Kaia's name actually does mean Pure in Greek, and her last name is Blessed One in Arabic. :D**


	10. Impostor Revealed

Chapter Ten

Impostor Revealed

Kayla and Tea's warnings had done nothing. Even when Joey was expecting it, he had no idea how monstrous Ra would be. The giant gold creature roared as it was summoned. The sky grew dark. A bright light shone, blinding everyone.

Kayla gasped as memories from her brother's duel flashed before her eyes. Even though it wasn't a Shadow Game, Joey could get seriously hurt from this.

"Yugi, you remember how your Egyptian God Card hurt Bakura? These things are dangerous!" Tea said.

The light died down, and Kayla turned to Yugi. "Is that how Bakura lost consciousness?" Yugi nodded sadly. He was the other Yugi at the moment, Yami.

"And now, Dragon of Ra!" Marik shouted. "Attack his life point's directly!"

Kayla felt a sudden shock spread throughout her body. She felt a disturbance. Something didn't seem right. Yami wore a grimace similar to hers on his face. Something bad was coming, and they could both feel it.

Kayla then felt a great power, a strong and angry power. She looked over at Namu, who's arm was shaking. She then looked back at Ra, who stayed where it was.

"Looks like your dragon has other plans, Marik." Joey said.

Marik whirled around, staring at the dragon in surprise. "Obey my commands! Attack my opponent now!"

"What going on?" Tea asked. "Why isn't it attacking?"

"Something's gone wrong." Yami said. "I can feel it."

Thunder began to strike the platform. Joey jumped back against the railing, trying to keep his distance from it.

Kayla turned and gared at Kaiba. "Call off this duel now! They're going to get hurt!"

Kaiba said nothing to her. He continued to watch.

"Joey! Get down from there!" Serenity shouted.

Lightning suddenly struck Marik, causing the rod in his hands to shatter. Yami gasped. "It was a fake! Joey was right; he's not the real Marik!"

Namu's eyes widened as the impostor fell to the ground. Joey ran across the field to help him up. Lightning struck at his feet, making him jump.

"Joey!" Kayla shouted. "Don't move! You're going to get hurt!"

Lightning then struck Joey, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Joey!" Serenity screamed, running towards the platform. Tristan was faster. Her jumped up and hung onto the edge. He tried to pull himself onto the field. One of Kaiba's suits stopped him.

"Whatever caused this storm, it has nothing to do with the Kaiba Corporation Duel Disk System. Since both opponents have 200 life points left, it's still a duel. We'll give both five minutes. Whoever gets to their feet first wins the duel." Kaiba said.

"Kaiba that's ridiculous!" Yami growled.

"You're out of your mind!" Kayla added. The others added in their voices, shouting either words of encouragement to Joey, or insults to Kaiba's sanity. Namu clutched his head and cried out in pain. Kayla ran over to him. "Namu, what's wrong?"

The Marik Impostor began to rise to his feet. But when he was about to be declared the winner, he fell to his knees again. This boosted everyone's hope that Joey would wake up.

Joey slowly made his way to his feet. His eyes shot open, and everyone began cheering. "I knew you could do it Joey!" Serenity said.

Joey's mind was still a little fuzzy. He had to think back to remember where he was and what was going on. "You scared us you big dope!" Mai shouted. "Don't ever do that again!"

Tristan lifted himself onto the field and ran to give Joey a big hug. "Alright! Who's my main man!"

"Wait a second, I think the other guy is still hurt!" he ran over to the fallen duelist to help him up. Yugi ran onto the platform with Joey.

The man awoke at their touch. He apologized to Joey, saying how honored he was to duel him.

"Alright, you need to come clean now. If you're not Marik, then who are you?" Joey asked.

The pain seemed to increase in Namu's head. Kayla put a hand on his shoulder. "Namu?"

"I am only a servant to the real Marik." He pointed over at Namu.

Everyone gasped. "He's Marik?" They all asked simultaneously.

"No," Kayla said. "That… That can't be."

Yami glared at Marik. "Reveal yourself, now!"

Marik dropped his hands, and looked up at Kayla. "Get your hands off of me, wench." He shoved Kayla into the railing, and turned to everyone else. "Yes, it's true. I am the real Marik. And now I will be able to finish what my pathetic servants couldn't." he looked over at Yugi. "Pharaoh, soon you're puzzle, and your power will be where they belong."

A change came over Marik for a slight second. He clutched his head again.

_"Let me out. You can't contain me anymore."_ A voice from within Marik growled. He then cried out in pain again, and a light flashed.

"I'm going to file this in the category of 'not good'." Joey said.

"Marik!" Yami shouted. "What's going on?"

Marik laughed. His hair had gone wild, and the Millennium Symbol glowed on his forehead. "I'm finally free again. This means I can do things my way. I was restrained for many years by that fool Odion." He pointed at Joey's fallen opponent, who had fall unconscious again.

"Who are you?" Yami asked.

Marik held up his Millennium Rod and smiled. "I am the true Marik, and I'm not as kind as the one you've come to know."

"If that was the good Marik, I can only imagine what you're like." Kayla snapped.

Marik smiled at her, making her skin crawl. "Oh don't worry little priestess. I have something planned for you as well. Don't think that you'll miss out on any of the fun."

She didn't like the sound of that

He then turned and looked back at Yami. "Prepare yourself Pharaoh. The real battle is about to begin. And when I win I shall gain your power, and I shall become pharaoh."


	11. What Have You Done?

Chapter Eleven

What Have You Done

Kayla found herself unable to sleep that night. After what the real Marik had said to her, she'd begun to feel extremely uncomfortable. He scared her, more than Bakura. "Why is that?" she wondered. Marik hadn't at least tried to hurt her like Bakura had. Then she remembered the one thing he _did_ do.

He stole Gavin's soul.

That turned Kayla's fear into anger. She clenched a fist, and got up from her bed. She then let out a heavy sigh. _"I need to clear my head."_

She walked down the hall and into the elevator. She took it to the top of the blimp. When she stepped out, the wind blew her hair back. She smiled, it felt good to her.

She then noticed someone standing at the front of the blimp, leaning over the railing. She walked closer, and realized who it was. It was Ryo.

She kept walking until she was standing right next to him. "Couldn't sleep?"

Ryo glanced at her, and nearly jumped. "What are you doing here? I told you that I wanted you too…"

"Ryo, I don't care what Bakura does to me." Kayla said, cutting him off. "He scared me once. That's all. I'm not going to let him keep me from what I want. And I want to be your friend. I want to help you."

"There's nothing you can do to help me, Kayla. He's too powerful. Even when I use all my strength to fight back, he always breaks through. I don't want you to get hurt."

Kayla put her hand on his. "You're not weak Ryo. You can fight this. I know you can."

"How do you have so much confidence in me?"

Kayla looked ahead, staring at the open ocean. Domino City was far behind them. "I don't know… When I'm around you, I can feel this strong power coming from you. It goes away when Bakura takes over, so that's how I know it's yours. I feel that if you apply that power, you can stop Bakura."

Ryo looked at her. "You really think so?"

Kayla looked back at him and nodded. "I know so."

There was a moment of silence between them, until Kayla said, "You never answered my question."

"Huh? Oh!" Ryo remembered. "Right… Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Something was keeping me up. That's all."

"Same here."

"What was keeping you up?" Ryo asked.

Kayla sighed, and looked back at the ocean. She told him about what happened during Joey's duel. She shivered slightly when telling him about what Marik had said to her. "He said that he had something planned for me, and that I wasn't going to miss out on any of the 'fun.' I don't know why, but it really bothered me."

She hadn't noticed that Ryo moved from where he stood, and stood behind her. He put one hand back on the railing right next to hers.

"To be honest, he scares me Ryo." Kayla said. "More than Bakura did. Something tells me that Marik keeps his promises."

Ryo then placed his other hand on the railing. Kayla then noticed what had happened. She spun around. "Ryo, what are you…"

His lips smacked against hers, cutting her off. She felt her face turn red and hot with blush. Btu she didn't pull away. Something felt right about this.

Ryo slowly pulled away, and then moved his hands to her shoulders. She was completely speechless.

Ryo smiled and kissed her again, with more passion than the first. Kayla was being pushed into the railing, sending pain up her back. She gently pushed Ryo away, but he grabbed onto her wrists. "Don't move." He whispered.

Kayla then noticed the change. Bakura had now taken over. "Are you afraid now?" He whispered.

Kayla straightened her back, and looked him straight in the eye. "No." She whispered back. "I'm not afraid of you."

Bakura smiled. "Good." He said. He then pulled her back into their kiss.

She still didn't pull away. Something had changed about Bakura now. He wasn't as hostile towards her for some reason, and it felt right. Her heart pounded in her chest.

There was suddenly a sharp pain in her chest. She gasped, breaking their kiss. She looked down and saw that her shirt was ripped, and blood was seeping through. But Bakura hadn't moved his hands once.

The pain increased, causing her to cry out. She dropped to her knees, and then fell completely to the floor.

Her hands were shaking, and her vision was fading. The last thing she was that night, was Bakura looking down at her with a twisted smile on his face.

* * *

_Kayla stood in the shadows once again, not knowing if she was truly in the shadow realm again, or just dreaming. She hoped it was a dream._

_Suddenly, a female voice whispered her name. It sounded familiar to Kayla, which gave her some comfort. The voice called out to her again, coming from her left. She followed it._

_After a few minutes of walking, she finally caught a glimpse of a girl running. Kayla turned and ran after her. "Wait!" she shouted. "Wait! Stop!"_

_The girl stopped, and slowly turned around. Kayla gasped, and stopped dead in her tracks._

_The girl looked almost exactly like her!_

_She shook her head at Kayla. "What have you done?" She whispered._

_"What? What do you mean… Wait!" The girl started running again. Kayla took off after her._

_The landscape quickly changed to a desert. Kayla could feel the sun beating down on her, and the sand under her feet. It all felt very familiar, and it felt right._

_Kayla continued to run. The girl didn't stop again until they reached a river. She stopped at the edge._

_Kayla stopped a few feet away from the girl to catch her breath._

_The girl glared at Kayla. "What have you done." She repeated._

_Kayla finally caught her breath and looked up at the girl. "I don't know what you're talking about!"_

_"You fool!" The girl shouted. "Because of your actions, history is going to repeat itself! You gave in to the Thief King, and now we're both doomed!"_

_"The Thief King?" Kayla asked. Then she remembered. "Bakura!"_

_The girl sighed, irritated. "Yes. You've given up one of the most important things to him. You've damned us both."_

_"What did I give to him?" Kayla asked. "And who are you?"_

_The girl sighed again, and shook her head. "You'll soon see the consequences for your actions." She turned around, and started to walk away. She looked over her shoulder at Kayla, and said, "And as for your second question, my name is Kaia. I am the Spirit of the Guardian Bracelet."_


	12. Mind Games Part l

Chapter Twelve

Mind Games Part One

**((A/N: Hey guys. So yeah, remember how I said Finals were going to slow me down at school and prevent some of my posting? Well, I got sick so I had to miss a day. I was finally able to get to one of my favorite episode streams. Hope you all enjoy!))**

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_"Kayla? Kayla, wake up!"_

Kayla awoke suddenly, sitting up in her bed. Yugi was the one who had called out her name. "Hey, sorry for waking you, but they're about to draw another duel."

"Seriously?" Kayla groaned. "Kaiba doesn't know when to quit does he?"

Yugi shook his head. "Apparently no. But anyways, we should get going. I'll leave you to get ready."

Kayla smiled. "Thanks Yugi."

When he left, she slowly stood up. A sharp pain shot through her chest again, causing her to double over in pain. She looked over at her mirror, and realized she wasn't wearing her shirt. She was wearing Bakura's!

She slowly removed it, wincing in pain. The entire upper section of her body was bandaged up. "What the hell did he do to me?" she whispered.

She then began to unravel the bandages, curious to see what had happened.

The moment she didn't she bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming in horror.

Five circular wounds lined just a few inches below her collar bone. She couldn't tell how deep they were, but she could tell they were going to scar.

The only thing she could think of that would leave a wound like that were the needles of the Millennium Ring. She then realized that was probably what it was.

She clenched a fist and threw Bakura's shirt on the floor. She then shoved through the clothes in her closet to find a new one. All she found was her white button up blouse. That would have to do for now.

She put on her jacket and slipped her duel disk onto her arm. She then walked into the hall to see Tea and Joey.

Tea grabbed onto Joey's ear as they walked by. "Why are you so damn mean to her!" Tea demanded.

Joey pushed her hand away. "You're the one grabbin' ears!"

Tea crossed her arms. "Mai wanted to feel like your friend, but you were too immature to let her!" She then grabbed his ear again. "Next time grow up!"

Kayla cleared her throat. "Um, guys?"

Tea and Joey both spun around. "Oh, Kayla, we didn't see you there." Tea said.

"I gathered that. What was that all about?" Kayla asked.

Tea was about to answer, but Joey cut her off. "Oh no big deal. Just Tea makin' a big deal over nothin'."

"I can hardly consider what you told Mai nothing." Tea countered. "Selfish jerk." She walked away from him, still steamed.

Joey walked after her towards the elevator. Kayla looked in their direction still confused. She turned her head and saw Mai walking down the hall. "Hey, Mai." She said with a smile.

Mai was looking down at the floor in deep thought. But the moment Kayla said her name, her head immediately shot up. "Oh, hi Kayla. Are you going to the drawing?"

"Of course." Kayla said. "Wouldn't miss it. Want to walk with me?"

Mai shrugged. "Sure, why not."

With that said, both girls began walking towards the elevator. "So, not that it's any of my business," Mai said. "But I happened to see Ryo come out of your room last night without a shirt on." She gave a mischievous smile. "What was that all about?"

Kayla blushed. "Oh, nothing… I honestly don't even know what he was doing in my room last night…" She stammered.

Mai's smile grew. "Don't worry Hun; your secret is safe with me. Just try to be a little more discreet about it. Ok? Yugi doesn't trust Ryo anymore after what happened, and I'm not sure how he would react to seeing you with him."

"But I'm… Why would he even care?"

"Yugi sees you as one of his friend Kayla. And he's very protective of his friends. Just take my advice alright? We don't need any more drama on this blimp."

Kayla nodded. "Right. No drama. Got it."

The girls then stepped out of the elevator and onto the main floor. Everyone except for Marik was waiting for them. Odion was under medical care in his room, still unconscious from his duel with Joey.

"Hey Kaiba, since Marik entered under a fake name, shouldn't he be disqualified?" Joey asked.

Kaiba smirked. It was that constant smirk that made Kayla want to smack the living crap out of him. "Wishful thinking Wheeler. But in this tournament, names don't matter. He has the card I want, and nothing, not even something as simple as a fake name, will stop me from getting it."

"He's gone nuts over this." Kayla mumbled. Yugi nodded at that, and Joey smiled.

"Attention Duelists." Kaiba's suit, Roland said. "The drawing for the next duel will now begin. Everyone remember your numbers."

There were six finalists left now, Kayla, Joey, Yugi, Kaiba, Mai, and Marik. Kayla knew she would eventually have to face one of them. Would that day be today?

A number was spat out, and Roland grabbed it. "Our first duelist is number four, Mai Valentine!"

"Let see who Mai is dueling." Mokuba said. "Then its show time!"

The selector started up again, and Mai began to walk away. "Later guys."

Everyone turned. "But Mai, don't you wanna see who you're duelin'?" Joey asked.

Mai crossed her arms. "Like it really matters." She snapped. "I'll win no matter who it is. As for you guys, I'll see you at the arena."

"We'll be rooting for you." Joey said.

"Don't bother."

"What?" Kayla asked. "Why not?"

Mai turned. "Look, don't take this personal Kayla. I made this decision before you came in. The truth is I don't need you guys to win. I was a good duelist before I met you guys. Also, a certain blonde knuckle head in your little group is beginning to piss me off."

Joey looked hurt. "You mean me?"

"That's right Joey." Mai said coldly. "It's perfectly clear you don't consider me a friend, and I don't consider you one. So let's just leave it at that!"

Her words were like a slap in the face to Joey. _"Who knew she could be so cold?" _Kayla thought.

She started walking away again. "Later. I'm out of here."

When she left, Kayla turned to Joey. "What did you do to piss her off?"

"It's a long story." Joey said. "I'll explain later alright?"

Another number came out, and Roland picked it up. "Our next duelist is duelist number five! Marik Ishtar!"

Kayla gasped at that, thinking about what Mai just said. "Mai's going to need all the hope she can get in this duel!"

Everyone nodded in agreement to that.


	13. Mind Games Part ll

Chapter Thirteen

Mind Games Part Two

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**((A/N: Alright, can I just say one thing… I FREAKING LOVE YOU GUYS! This goes out to all of my readers and reviewers. You've officially made 'Cards of Destiny' my number one fan fiction! All of your reviews make my day, and inspire me to continue this. If weren't for you guys, I probably would've scrapped this story a long time ago….. But enough of this. LET THE STORY COMMENCE!))**

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The elevator doors opened to the top of the blimp, and Kayla found herself running with Yami and the gang. Mai and Marik were standing on the platform, already dueling. Mai had her Dark Witch in attack mode, and Marik had a Revival Jam in defense mode, along with a Jam Breeding Machine.

"Aw man!" Joey said. "It's already started! I knew we shouldn't have waited for Tristan to get out of the bathroom."

The group took their places near the platform, ready to watch.

"What are you guys doing here?" Mai snapped. "I made it clear that I don't need your help to win this duel."

"We know, Mai." Joey said. "But friends are still allowed to come watch right?"

"Suit yourselves." Mai said. "I have a duel to win."

Kayla turned to Joey. "What exactly did you do Joey?"

Joey groaned. "Like I said, it's nothing big. You remember when I was knocked unconscious from my last duel right? Well, when I blacked out, I had this dream that I was back at school. I fell over my desk, and all my cards fell on the floor.

"Well, what happened next is what pissed Mai off. In the dream, all my friends were there to help me up off the floor, and that was how I won the duel. It was like they were all there with me. I told everyone what I'm telling you know, and Mai had asked me if she was in the dream. I told her she wasn't, and now she's mad at me."

"And was she in it?" Kayla asked.

Joey nodded slightly. "Everyone was. Including you."

"Me? You consider me a friend Joey?"

Joey smiled. "Of course. You've been a great friend to all of us. You're practically a part of the group now."

Kayla smiled back. "Thanks Joey." She looked up at Mai again, her eyes still cold yet determined. "Why don't you just tell her the truth?"

Joey sighed. "I don't know. It just didn't seem like a good idea at the time…"

Kayla looked back to the duel, seeing that Marik had gained control over Mai's Dark Witch through the destruction of one of his monsters.

Mai glared at him. "Alright, so you've gotten a few lucky shots, but that ends now. Things are about to change."

"Indeed." Marik said. "Much more than you know." An evil and creepy smile twisted on his lips, giving everyone an uneasy feeling.

Marik then reached behind him and pulled out his Millennium Rod. "I say it's time we take this duel to the true home of Duel Monsters. The Shadow Realm!"

Mai looked at him, confused. "Excuse me?"

Yami's eyes widened. "Oh no!"

Marik's smile grew wider. "Yes. Let the Shadow Game begin!"

A cloud of darkness began to cover the blimp. Everyone gasped, except for Kaiba, who continued to act as if he didn't care about anything.

"This can't be happening!" Yami shouted.

Serenity held onto Joey's shoulder. "Joey, I'm scared. What's going on?"

"What have you done Marik!" Mai demanded. "This is not part of the game!"

**((A/N: I just lost the game. ;) ))**

"Welcome to the heart of darkness my dear." Marik said, still smiling. "Welcome to the Shadow Realm."

"Shadow what now?" Duke asked. "It just looks like we flew into a fog."

Kayla shook her head. "I wish it was." She shivered. "I can feel the darkness energy coming from Marik. This is definitely the Shadow Realm."

Yami began to tense up. He clenched his fists. "I can feel it too, Kayla." He then turned to Marik. "Marik, end this now!" Marik didn't respond to his calls, so he turned to Mai. "Mai, this duel needs to stop! There's more at stake than you know!"

"It's no use Yami." Kayla said. "Look at them up there. Neither of them have the intentions of backing out anytime soon."

"Listen, Yugi, Joey, everyone, I appreciate the concerns. But my mind is made up, and I'm going to stay in this duel." Mai said. "I've come too far to back down now." she then turned back to Marik. "You ready to continue or what?"

Marik laughed. "I'm always ready for a Shadow Game."

"Alright, let's go." Mai drew her next card. "I place one card face down and summon my Unfriendly Amazon!"

The monster appeared on the field in front of Mai, but there was something different about it. The Amazon had a faint purple glow around it.

Mai noticed it instantly. "Why is she glowing?"

"Confused?" Marik asked. "It's simple really. The energy surrounding your Amazon is a symbol of you. Or your mind to be more exact. When it goes out, so does a part of your mind. This is the nature of the Shadow Game we are playing."

"That's ridicules." Mai said, dismissing practically everything he just said.

"You'll understand more clearly once you experience my shadow magic first hand." He laughed again, making everyone shiver.

_"There is something defiantly wrong with him."_ Mai thought. _"But I can't get distracted. I've got to win."_ She brought up her hand to command her Amazon. "Now, my Amazon, attack Dark Witch with Soaring Slash!"

The monster obeyed, taking out the monster standing in front of Marik. He chuckled. "Very good Mai. You've wiped out some of my life points. However, Dark Witch was originally _your_ monster. Therefore, you've wiped out part of your memory as well as your monster."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Mai shouted.

"You see Mai; each monster we play on this field holds the memory of a person we hold in our minds. When the monster I destroyed, so is the memory of that person."

"No way!" Mai shouted. "That's impossible!"

Marik's smile grew even wider. "Now, let's see who your first lost memory shall be." The hologram of a card appeared on the field. It spun a few times until it revealed the picture of a person.

The first person lost from Mai's mind, was Kayla.

"No!" Mai gasped.

"Yes. And now, little Kayla is banished from your mind forever."

"I don't believe you Marik! You can't do this! It's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible here. But don't stress yourself. You're only losing one of your pathetic friends."

Mai looked out at the gang. Slowly, Kayla began to disappear from her sight. The memories of this morning faded from her mind. Soon Mai forgot her name, and what her voice sounded like. She'd forgotten everything about her.

Kayla was now gone from her mind.


	14. Mind Games Part lll : Endgame

Chapter Fourteen

Mind Games Part Three: Endgame

As the duel continued on, Marik had kept one monster on the field, Holding Arms, and Tea and Joey had both lost their places in Mai's mind.

From what Kayla could see Mai looked as though she was going to give up. But then, a sudden change came over her. She looked at Yami, and nodded. "Thanks Yugi."

Kayla looked at him, and saw the faint glow of and eye leave his forehead. "What did you do?"

"I was able to get through Marik's shadow magic in order to speak with Mai. I told her that she could still win and defeat Marik."

"Can she?" Kayla asked.

"It's not impossible." Yami replied. "Difficult yes. But not impossible."

"… Your Winged Dragon of Ra is now in my control Marik!"

Kayla's eyes shot back up to the duel. "What did she say?"

"Alright Mai!" Joey shouted. "Kick that slime ball's butt into next week!"

"Can someone explain what happened?" Kayla asked.

"How could you miss it?" Duke said. "She used her Amazon Chain Master's special ability to take one card from Marik's deck. And the card she picked was the Winged Dragon."

Kayla gasped. Excitement welled up inside her. Mai was going to win! "Come one Mai! You can do this!" she shouted.

Mai slapped the card onto her duel disk with a smile. Marik didn't seem worried at all.

A bright light flashed and a gold sphere appeared in the sky. Mai's smile left her face. "What is that?"

Marik smiled. "The Winged Dragon of Ra is locked within the sphere you see now. Only by reciting the ancient chant written on the card can Ra be awakened."

Mai looked down at the card, and gasped. Her eyes grew wide. The chant was there alright. But it was written in a language she couldn't read.

"And besides," Marik said. "Only one with the knowledge of the ancient scriptures can wield the power of Ra. My family has protected the pharaoh's tomb for years, so I fit that category well. In fact, a few duelists here can trace back their heritage to ancient Egypt. Including Seto Kaiba."

Shock spread across Kaiba's face, the first emotion she'd ever seen on him that wasn't cocky.

"Now, are you reading the chant Mai? Or will I have to do it?" Marik asked. "This is your last chance you foolish girl."

"Be careful Mai." Yami warned.

Mai was beginning to tense up. She had no cards on the field to protect her if Marik took back control over Ra.

"This is your last chance, Mai." Marik repeated.

Mai drew a card from her deck. "I place one card face down, and end my turn."

Marik laughed. "It's over now, Mai." He drew his next card. "I summon Holding Legs. And be sure to say goodbye to that little face down card of yours. For when Holding Legs is summoned, it immediately sends all trap and spell cards back to the players' hand."

The hologram for Mai's face down card disappeared. Marik smiled. "And when played beside Holding Arms, this card has another special ability. They call forth the Sacred Stone of Ojhat!"

A giant stone tablet appeared behind Mai. "And with no monsters," Marik continued. "I can attack your life points directly! So be prepared to lose right now!"

Marik's monsters charged at Mai and latched onto her ankles and wrists. She fought to get away, until the monsters pulled her back and up against the stone tablet. They then melded into the rock, holding Mai in place. She's dropped her cards, and was now unable to move.

"Mai!" Joey shouted.

Marik laughed. "Now my monsters, attack her life points!"

An electric shock shot through Mai's body, causing her to cry out. She felt weak and defenseless now. Her life points dropped down from 2100, to 800.

"Mai! Are you alright?" Joey shouted.

"That voice…" Mai mumbled. "It's… so familiar."

Marik laughed again. "Your friends are all gone now, Mai."

"That's a lie!" Yami shouted. Marik turned and glared at him. "I don't need you intruding on my shadow game again Pharaoh." He growled. "You and I will duel soon enough. And besides, things are beginning to get interesting up here. For now, it's time to awaken the Winged Dragon of Ra!" He turned back to the duel.

"If Marik gets control of that thing, Mai is in serious trouble!" Tea said.

Marik then began to speak. _"Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry. Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight."_

The sphere began to open, revealing the great golden dragon. Chills shot down Kayla's spine as Marik continued the chant.

_"Envelop the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe.__ Unlock your powers from deep within so that together we may win. Appear now in this Shadow Game as I call your name,_

_"Winged Dragon of Ra!"_

The beast roared, creating a great wind with its wings blowing everyone's hair back.

"Behold my great beast! The most powerful of all of the Egyptian God Monsters!" Marik said. "It's time now to end this duel."

"That's enough Marik." Yami growled. "Your grudge is against me Marik! Not her."

Marik ignored him and turned back to Mai. Joey then took off running. "Hang in there Mai!" he shouted.

"No, Joey. Wait!" Yami shouted after him.

Joey climbed onto the platform. "Hey, you can't do that, you'll be disqualified!"

"Be deal." Joey shot back. He continued to run towards Mai.

"Winged Dragon of Ra, direct attack!" Marik shouted pointing his Millennium Rod towards Mai. A giant flame formed in the dragon's mouth.

"Look out Mai!" Tea and Serenity shouted. But they all knew it would do no good.

"Farewell." Marik said.

Mai closed her eyes, ready to lose. It was all over now. She lost.

Then she heard a male voice shout, "Hey, Mai! I'll get you out of this. Don't worry. You'll be alright."

"It's… it's that voice." She said weakly. "Who is it?"

"Mai, it's me Joey…. Come on. You've got to remember me. Just think."

"I… I can't…"

Joey lifted up her head, and looked into her violet eyes. "Mai. Look in my eyes. It's me."

"J… Joey?"

"That's right, Mai. It's Joey. And I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You hear me?" Mai nodded slightly. "Listen Mai." Joey continued. "There's something I need to tell you. Two things actually… Some things I should've told you before… I know I told you that you weren't in that dream I had earlier… But you were there. And… I'm sorry Mai."

"Wait a second…" Mai said. She then remembered. "Joey!"

Marik clenched a fist. "That fool broke my spell." He thought. Then a smile crossed his lips. "But no matter. I'll destroy them both now."

Joey tried to get Mai down from the stone, when the light of Ra's fire grew brighter. "Forget about me, Joey! Just go."

"No way. I'm not leaving you behind Mai." The light grew brighter, and Marik gave Ra a command to destroy both him and Mai. Joey shielded Mai with his body.

"Don't be a hero Joey!" Mai shouted. "Just go! Please!"

"No way Mai. I'm not going to let you get hurt. And there's something I need to tell you Mai." He could feel the heat of the fire on his back now. The attack was getting closer. "Mai, I… I…"

"That's enough!" Yami screamed, running on the platform to protect both of them. Marik laughed. "Isn't this special, looks like I'll be able to destroy Yugi sooner than I thought I would."

"Not quite, Marik. You're magic won't be able to penetrate me. I'll shield everyone from your evil!" The fire began pushing Yami towards Mai and Joey.

Kayla's heart was pounding. Adrenaline coursed through her. She had to help them! She ran onto the platform and pushed Yami out of the way. "Stop this!" she screamed. The fire struck her in the chest.

"Kayla, no!" Yami shouted.

The Millennium Symbol glowed on her forehead, and her body seemed to absorb the fire. When the attack stopped, she fixed an icy glare towards Marik. She spoke in a strong and powerful voice that didn't seem to belong to her.

"Yami's powers may be strong, but mine are stronger. _I_ will be the one to shield everyone from your evil, Marik. This Shadow Game ends now!"

Yami tried to get up, but the power of Ra had taken its toll. He collapsed to the ground. "Yugi!" Tristan shouted. "Somebody help him!"

Kayla ran to Yami's side, trying to see if she could aid him in any way. She tried to shake him, but it did nothing. "Yami. Please. Wake up."

Marik walked over to Yami's body. "What do we have here? I should send him t the Shadow Realm right here and right now."

"No way." Joey said. "You'll have to get through me."

"And me." Kayla added.

"Relax you fools." Marik snapped. "I still need him. You two, on the other hand, are in my way. I'll teach you for interfering with a shadow game." He brought up his Millennium Rod, and suddenly both Kayla and Joey were frozen where they stood.

"What did you do to them, Marik!" Mai shouted, still weak from the duel. She now knelt on her side of the dueling platform.

"They'll be fine. As for you, there's something we need to discuss. You still have my card in your deck, and I want it back. And I'm about to fulfill my promise to you by sending your soul to the shadow realm!"

He brought up the Rod again. The light seemed to vanish from Mai's eyes, and her soul was gone. She collapsed to the ground.

Joey and Kayla were then free from the spell. Joey had tried to pick a fight with Marik, but he simply walked away.

Yami then regained consciousness. Once Kayla saw that he was alright again, she felt all her energy leave her body. The Symbol left her forehead, and she fell to her knees.

Yami and Joey stopped her from falling "Don't you go fainting on us too." Joey said.

"We need to get you back to your room Kayla." Yami added. "You look exhausted."

"I can take care of her." a voice said. Kayla slowly lifted her head and saw Bakura, using Ryo's voice, standing in front of her.

* * *

**((A/N: Alright so slightly longer chapter than usual, but oh well. I just wanted to get this set of episodes done. And, can anyone guess what happened with Kayla?))**

**((2nd A/N: I'm a polarshipper btw. (Mai and Joey Supporter)…. That is all ))**


	15. Conversing With Spirits

Chapter Fifteen

Conversing With Spirits

Kayla used Bakura's shoulder for support as they walked into the elevator. She heard Kaiba say something about him dueling next, no matter what the lottery machine said. _"Can't play by the rules can he?" _she thought.

When they were in the elevator, Tea waved at her. "Get better Kayla."

Kayla smiled, and gave her a thumbs up. When the elevator doors closed, she pushed herself off of Bakura, and grabbed onto the rail. "What the hell did you do to me?" she demanded.

Bakura smirked. "I don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about."

"You did something last night." Kayla spat. "I was perfectly fine until you took over Ryo again. You did something to cause this!" she pulled her shirt down a little bit to expose one of the circular wounds. "The only thing that I can even think of that would cause a wound like that is that god forsaken necklace you wear!"

"By how you reacted last night, I'd say you _enjoyed_ that I took over Ryo." He said, still smirking.

"I have no idea what came over me last night, but I doesn't matter. You're still avoiding my question! What did you do to me?" She repeated.

"I merely made an observation. Nothing to get riled up about."

"_Observation! _What the hell kind of an observation requires this!"

Bakura turned and looked at her. "One that requires looking into your soul."

Kayla was speechless. She stared at him, in shock and confusion. "Looking into my soul? What… What do you mean?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Bakura said, clearly annoyed. "My Millennium Item possesses the power to remove souls from the bodies of mortals."

Kayla stepped back, nearly jumping when the cold metal of the railing touched her back. "You mean you… you…"

"Yes. I took your soul from your body." He said finally, still sounding very annoyed with her. "And as you can see by the fact that you're still living and breathing, I gave it back."

"But why?" Kayla asked. "Why take it in the first place?"

"To prove something to myself." He tried to drop the subject there, but Kayla wouldn't let it go.

"What were you trying to prove?"

"I hardly see how that's any of your business."

"It's my soul, so it _is_ my business." Kayla snapped.

Bakura whirled around, and glared at her. He moved closer to her, and placed his hands next to hers on the railing. "Remember this, little Kayla. I can easily take your soul back, and send you directly to the Shadow Realm. Do _not_ tempt me to do so."

"You don't scare me."

"Those are foolish words, girl." He growled.

"It's the truth." She countered. The doors opened on the floor with her room, but Bakura didn't look like he was going to move anytime soon. "It's my floor." She said firmly.

Bakura moved, not taking his eyes off of her. When she was out of the elevator, he said, "You shouldn't have such an attitude towards someone who can save your brother."

Kayla spun around. But before she could ask what he had meant, the doors to the elevator closed.

The last she saw of Bakura that day, was the twisted smirk he wore on his face just as the doors closed.

* * *

_Kayla stood among the same darkness from her last dream. Kaia stood across from her with her arms crossed over her chest. "So you finally figured out what he did huh?"_

_"When you said he took something from me because I gave into him, you meant my soul." Kayla said. Kaia nodded. "What does he want with me?"_

_Kaia sighed. "I'm not sure. I feel like this has all happened before… I can't figure out why though."_

_"You mean he's done this before?"_

_"Most likely… The more I think about it, I think he might have done it to me."_

_Kayla's eyes widened in realization. "History repeating itself…. That's it! Whatever he did to you in the past, he's doing to me know. The question is why…"_

_"Because you're my reincarnation, Kayla." Kaia said._

_"So you **were **my past life."_

_"Technically speaking, yes."_

_"So what exactly happened between you and Bakura? He said that you loved him at one point in time."_

_Kaia sighed. "I can't remember… It's been so long since I even thought about him. I only have one or two memories involving him. That one with the bandit encounter, and one that is only a fragment of a memory. That one I will not show you until I find the rest of it."_

_"Where does Ryo come into all of this?" I asked. "I mean, he just seems like an innocent bystander or something."_

_"He has become Bakura's host. The Millennium Ring has bonded with Ryo, and will not leave until Bakura finishes his goal. That's all I know."_

_Kayla was silent for a moment, taking all of this in. "I was told that this bracelet could protect me from the Shadow Games. What exactly does that mean?"_

_"Now that I do remember. The Guardian Bracelet is like a key out of a Shadow Game. Once you learn how to use it correctly, the bracelet can prevent you from going into a Shadow Game, and shield you from it. Eventually, when you become stronger, the bracelet will even protect you from the powers of the Millennium Items."_

_"So if I were to learn how to use it right, I could prevent Bakura from taking my soul again?"_

_Kaia nodded. "By the time I learned that, it was too late."_

_"Could the bracelet also protect me from losing my soul in a Shadow Game?"_

_"No. The bracelet can protect you from the mind tricks of a Shadow Game, like the one your friend Mai was in. But if you were to lose a Shadow Game, the bracelet cannot prevent you from losing your soul."_

_"Speaking of Mai's duel, did you take over my body at the end? When Ra almost attacked Yami?"_

_Kaia gave a small smile. "I merely contributed my own power to help you. The emotions you felt were yours. Everything you saw was through your own eyes. I did not possess you."_

_"Thank you." Kayla said. "I don't know what would've happened if you didn't help me."_

_"I can't let my reincarnation get hurt like that, now can I?" She said smiling. "Now get some sleep Kayla. You have dueling to prepare for."_

_Kayla smiled back, and closed her eyes. Kaia returned to the Guardian Bracelet, leaving Kayla to dream in peace._


	16. Secrets of the Tomb Keepers

Chapter 16

Secrets of the Tomb Keepers

Kayla awoke surprisingly later than she'd assumed she would. When she'd opened her eyes to look at her alarm clock, she thought she was still dreaming. "Eight O'clock?" she mumbled. "That can't be right." She sat up in her bed and checked her cell phone clock. It said the same time. Were there no duels scheduled for today?

She got up and quickly changed into a blue t-shirt and a different pair of jeans. Instead of wearing her boots, she decided to give her feet a break and changed into a pair of black and blue sneakers she kept in her backpack. Gavin had nagged her to pack extra shoes before the tournament started. She was glad she did.

She slipped her Duel Disk back on, and stepped into the hallway to see Yugi and the gang talking.

"I can't believe we're almost to the finals!" Joey said excited. "It's just like Duelist Kingdom all over again!"

"But there's a lot more at stake this time than star chips, Joey." Tristan reminded him.

"Tristan's right." Tea said. "Odeon's out cold and Mai's soul is in the shadow realm. Losing to Marik is not option here."

"Am I interrupting something?" Kayla asked.

Everyone turned. Yugi gave her a sad smile. "No. We were just going to check on Mai. Want to come?"

Kayla nodded. "Sure."

Just when Yugi was about to knock on Mai's door, a calm voice said, "Hello Pharaoh."

Yugi turned. "Ishizu." He gasped.

Kayla turned to see a tall Egyptian woman standing just a few feet away from them. She had dark blue eyes, and was wearing a white shawl over her head, a white dress, and gold jewelry.

But what rested on her neck was what interested Kayla. A golden Eye of Horus, or the Millennium Symbol, sat glowing around her neck. A wave of energy shot through Kayla's body.

The woman gave her a small smile. "And hello to you, Kayla Edwards."

"I… I'm sorry but, do I know you?"

"Not officially. I am Ishizu Ishtar."

"Wait a second, isn't Ishtar Marik's last name?"

Ishizu nodded. "She's Marik's sister." Yugi explained. "And she was in the finals up until last night. Kaiba dueled against her, and she lost."

"I'm sorry." Kayla said.

Ishizu nodded. "Don't be sorry. If anything,_ I_ should be the one apologizing. My brother has caused you all great amounts of grief." She looked at Yugi. "I'm sorry for what happened to your friend, Mai. May I pay her a visit with you?"

"Sure." Yugi said. He then turned, and knocked at the door. Serenity opened it, and let them in.

"How's Mai?" Tea asked.

"Quiet." Serenity said sadly. "She hasn't said a word since you all brought her here."

Kayla looked at Mai's lifeless body. She didn't even look like she was breathing. It brought tears to her eyes to see her this way.

Joey knelt next to Mai's bed. "Mai… I'm sorry I let you down. But I promise you'll get your revenge against that Marik creep."

"Don't you see Joey?" Serenity asked. Joey stood up. "Anger and revenge will only make things worse. That's how Mai got this way. Marik is full of so much anger and hate; he gains pleasure from watching people suffer."

"She has a point you know." Kayla pointed out. "We can't stoop to Marik's level. We're better than that."

"I'm sorry, Sis." Joey said to Serenity. "You're right."

"There is hope ahead." Ishizu said. Everyone turned and looked at her. "For where there is evil, there is also good. Marik was good once, believe it or not. He began life as an innocent child, like everyone does. But over time, that innocence disappeared, leaving a dark hole where his heart once was.

"That evil was born the night Marik received the Tomb Keepers' Initiation. He inherited the task of guarding the Great Pharaoh's tomb. It was a task he always resented. And now, this dark presence has completely taken over my brother's body."

Yugi stepped towards her. "Ishizu, what if there's no way to save your brother? It may be too late."

Sorrow flashed in Ishizu's eyes. "You said it was my destiny to save the world from evil." Yugi continued. "I thought that meant defeating your brother. Not saving him."

"Yugi's got a point, Ishizu." Joey said. "What if it is too late? I mean, honestly, the guy's about as nasty as they come."

"I can't ever imagine him being good." Tea added.

Ishizu glanced out the window, her sadness increasing by the moment. Kayla shot a glance at Joey and Tea. "Will you guys knock it off? You're obviously bothering her."

Ishizu gave Kayla a small smile. "Thank you. And as for my brother, you must trust me on this. I know there is hope. There is so much that you don't understand."

With that said, she began to tell the story of how Marik came to be possessed by the dark force they now knew.

She'd told them that her family had been hidden beneath the sands of Egypt for generations to guard the Tomb of the Great Pharaoh. Marik, being the first born Ishtar son, was required to have the pharaoh's secret on his back. The family was forbidden to ever leave the tomb.

"After Marik had gone through the tomb keeper's initiation, I had promised to take him outside of the tomb. Odion had promised to cover for us while I did so. I knew we were violating our family code, but Marik deserved to see the light of the surface world at least once.

"But it was this exposure to this light that caused the darkness in him to grow."

She continued to tell how she'd fear that he'd seen too much. Marik had become amazed with the surface world, and it was difficult to get him to leave it behind.

"But on our way out of the town I had taken him to, we ran into a man who had told us that the Pharaoh would return to this world. He also told us that if we rejected our sacred duties, our futures would hold nothing but tragedy. I knew then I had made a great mistake. I exposed Marik to a world he was never supposed to see. I knew then I was going to pay for my actions."

"Because of what I did, Marik began to reject _his_ sacred duty as a tomb keeper. When we had returned to the tomb, I had noticed an alarm on the door. We returned to Marik's room to see it trashed, and Odion gone. As punishment for being involved without plan, my father had Odion whipped. He'd threatened Marik with the same fate."

According to Ishizu, it was then that the darkness inside Marik was released. He'd used the Millennium Rod's hidden dagger to kill their father. But Odion was able to stop the dark side of Marik from harming anyone else. He had contained it.

It was Marik's jealousy and anger that made him the way he was now.

"And I'm supposed to feel sorry for that spoiled brat?" Joey shouted. "Because he became some evil nutcase? He trapped Mai's mind, and I'm going to make sure he pays!"

"Joey, stop." Kayla said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You need to calm down. There's still a way to save them. There's a way to save all of them."

_"Kayla seems so hopeful about this."_ Yugi thought. _"Almost as hopeful as Ishizu."_

_"Then let **us** hope that they're right."_ Yami thought back.

* * *

**A/N: So, i just now looked at the date, and i realized, I've had this up for exactly a month now! **


	17. The Soul Room

Chapter 17

The Soul Room

When Ishizu had finished her story, she ended up giving Yugi her Millennium Necklace, claiming that it no longer showed her the visions she was supposed to receive, and said that her mission was complete. Yugi pocketed the necklace, thanking her.

When all was said and done, Kayla returned to her room. She was unsure of what to do today, seeing as Kaiba was giving them a day off.

She laid back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking. She'd considered going to talk to Ryo again, but with what had been going on lately that really didn't seem like a good idea. At least not momentarily.

She then heard Kaia's voice in the back of her mind. _"Kayla, are you alone?"_

_"Yeah. Why?"_

_"There's something I need to show you. Are you sure you're alone? No one is around at the moment?"_

Kayla sighed. _"Yes, Kaia. I'm absolutely positive I'm alone. Is what you want to show me really worth all the fuss?"_

_"Yes. Now close your eyes and relax for a moment. There's something I want to try."_

Kayla closed her eyes and did what Kaia had asked her. She felt a slight tug on the back of her mind, but as soon as she'd felt it, it went away.

"Alright. Now open them."

Kayla cracked one eye open. "Why do you sound so …?" Her words were cut off by a gasp. "Kaia… What is this place?"

The tanned Priestess stood before Kayla with a huge smile on her face. "I did it!" she exclaimed, praising herself. "I didn't think it would actually work! I need to thank Yami later."

"Wait, wait, wait." Kayla said, putting up her hands. "Slow down a second. A: Where am I? B: What did you do? And C: When did you talk to Yami exactly?"

Kaia laughed. "I spoke with Yami earlier today when you were talking to Ishizu. And he asked me if I had showed you this room yet. I told him no, and he said I should give it a try some time. So I did."

"You seem more bubbly than usual." Kayla pointed out.

"I do? Well, sorry. I'm just really excited that this actually worked. But anyways, as for where you are…" She paused and cleared her throat. "Welcome to my Soul Room."

Kayla had finally taken notice of the room. It was a dimly lit room with a few torches attached to the walls. There was a large golden bed with crisp white sheets and a bunch of different colored throw pillows on it. There was also a golden vanity with a large mirror. On the vanity were perfumes, combs, and a single golden hairbrush. The room smelled of incense, but it wasn't a strong scent. It was a light and pleasant scent.

Each wall of the room was painted differently. One wall was half painted with Hieroglyphs that covered maybe and eighth of the wall. The rest was all blank. Another was painted like a desert background with a long river flowing through it.

The last were two different sceneries. One had two men standing opposite of each other with one of their hands up. They both seemed to be controlling a monster floating above their heads. The wall opposite of it was a painting of the dream Kayla had a couple of nights ago. The night where Bakura and Kaia first met.

Kaia strode up to Kayla and stood next to her. "Everything in this room is a symbol of my past life. And each of these paintings represents something important in my life. This wall for example is the only memory I currently have of Bakura." She then turned and gestured towards the desert scene.

"This wall is here to help me remember my homeland. Out of all of my memories I have lost, I refuse to let this one go. I hope that someday I can set foot on the warm sands again and here the rushing of the Nile."

She closed her eyes and let out a heavy, wistful sigh. Kayla decided to make a mental note of that. _"Maybe I can take her back there someday."_ She thought.

Kaia then turned to the wall with the Hieroglyphs. "Those Hieroglyphs tell what little of my story I can remember. I was born and raised in Alexandria. My family was very poor, and I remember selling myself into slavery because I thought it would help my parents get by."

"You sold yourself?" Kayla asked.

Kaia nodded sadly. "We were living in desperate times. The man that bought me ended up paying a large amount of money to my parents. They were able to get by for a long time, but it had pained my mother to see me go. I had promised her I'd return one day. I was fifteen."

"Is that all you can remember?"

"I remember bits and pieces of my life. I know that after being passed down through countless slave holders, I ended up at in the Pharaoh's hands. I'd learned more of the gods and eventually became a priestess. I also know that I had become good friends with the Pharaoh's son. I can't exactly remember his name though."

"Could it have been Yami?" Kayla asked.

Kaia shrugged. "I'm not sure. Like I said, I don't remember much. I remember a lot of my childhood, just not of my older years." She then turned to the last wall. "This wall on the other hand, tells of a Shadow Game that took place a long time ago. A priest had challenged the Great Pharaoh, fighting against him with a white dragon. And the Pharaoh had defended himself a magician of some sort. I can't remember much of this event either, and these Hieroglyphs have become difficult to read lately for some reason."

Kayla looked closely over the painting. "Wait a second that priest looks like Kaiba. And that Pharaoh is defiantly Yami."

Kaia looked at it to, and mentally compared the two in the painting to their modern forms. "Now that I think about it, I do see a resemblance. I never would've even considered the idea before."

Kayla's eyes trailed over to a corner of the room. There were four small pots of paints, and a few completed paintings sitting in the corner. "You paint?" Kayla asked.

Kaia looked in the same direction as Kayla, and nodded. "I did a long time ago."

Kayla noticed one that was incomplete. It could barely have been considered a painting. All that was on the canvas were two pairs of eyes. One set was green, the other dark lavender. "What about this one?"

Kaia studied it, puzzled. "That wasn't there before. That canvas used to be blank, and I never touched it."

The lavender eyes were what interested Kayla. They seemed to pierce their way right into her soul. She shuddered at the thought of it. They were so familiar to her, but she couldn't place it in her mind.

She then felt a burst of pain shoot through her body. The pain caused her to cry out and drop to her knees. Kaia got down to help her. "Kayla, what's wrong?"

Images began to flash before Kayla's eyes. _Marik. Shadow Realm. Fire….. Bakura._

Kayla gasped, and jumped to her feet. "Something's wrong. I need to go back now."

"What's wrong? What did you see?"

"I think Bakura might be in trouble!"


	18. Showdown in the Shadows

Chapter 18

Showdown in the Shadows

Kayla opened her eyes again and found herself back in her room. Night had fallen, and everyone seemed to be asleep. Yet she still had the feeling that something was wrong. She stood up, and suddenly the same vision from before flashed in her mind.

She ran down the hall and into the elevator. Something definitely felt wrong, and something inside her told her to get to the roof as fast as she could. Her heart pounded in her chest.

When the elevator doors opened, a wave of dark energy shot through her. She felt cold, and weak. Through the Guardian Bracelet, Kaia offered Kayla some of her own strength.

From the feelings she was getting, and the thick dark fog surrounding the blimp, she could tell a Shadow Game was in the works.

She stepped out of the elevator, and saw who was in the duel.

Bakura and Marik.

But that wasn't the worst part. As she got closer to the dueling platform, Bakura seemed almost translucent. Parts of his body looked as if they were missing. Kayla thought it was the game playing tricks on her mind. But it didn't seem that way.

"I now activate my magic card, Monster Reborn in order to bring back my Winged Dragon of Ra!" Marik said, holding up the card. He glanced over in Kayla's direction and smiled. "Well, well. It looks like we have an audience Bakura. It looks as though dear little Kayla will be serving as a witness to your failure."

Bakura glanced at Kayla. "What in Ra's name are you doing here?" he growled.

"I got this feeling that something was wrong." Kayla said. "It led me up here."

"Get out of here." He snapped. "Now."

"Now don't be rude Bakura." Marik said teasingly. "If the lady wishes to watch, then let her. It should be entertaining to see how the Priestess will react to the Thief King's downfall."

"I'll deal with you in a moment, Marik." Bakura snarled. "And as for you," she turned back to Kayla. "This doesn't concern you. Leave. Now."

Kayla stood her ground. The visions started up again, warning her. "I… I can't Bakura. Something is going to happen. I know it. I'm staying here, and that's final."

Bakura sighed irritably. "Very well, have it your way." He turned back to the duel.

"As I was saying," Marik said. "I return my Winged Dragon of Ra to the field!"

The great golden beast appeared behind Marik and roared. Its attack and defense points read as zero.

"I don't see the point in summoning that thing, Marik." Bakura said. "It's worthless."

"That's what you think." Marik countered with a laugh. "I also activate Instant Attack, allowing Ra to attack this turn. But that's not all." He laid one last card on his duel disk.

"My final card is Point-to-Point Transfer! This card allows me to tribute all but one of my life points to Ra's attack power. Say hello to the shadows for me, Bakura. You're about to meet them."

Ra's attack points increased rapidly. The visions flashed in Kayla's mind again, causing her head to pound. She knew what was going to happen next.

"Winged Dragon of Ra, attack my opponent's life points directly!"

"No!" Kayla shouted, breaking out into a run towards the platform. A powerful force shot her back against the railing of the blimp. She struggled to look up and see Marik holding up his Millennium Rod. "I won't have you interfering with my Shadow Game again, girl."

Kayla fought against the hold on her, but it was no use. Ra was preparing to attack. A huge blinding fire forming at its mouth.

_"Kaia!"_ Kayla cried out in her mind. _"I need help; I'm not strong enough to fight it."_

_"Hang in there." _Kaia said. Kayla felt a sudden burst of energy shoot through her body. The hold on her weakened and she was able to break free. But it was too late. Ra had destroyed Bakura's monsters. Bakura had lost. As his life points slowly dropped, his body began to fade away.

"Prepare to enter the darkness at the hands of Ra!" Marik shouted.

Bakura laughed. "Don't you realize you fool? I _am_ the Darkness."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marik asked.

"Simple. It means I can't be destroyed." Bakura said, his body disappearing into smoke. "You haven't seen the last of me. I will be back."

With that said, Bakura was gone. Kayla jumped onto the dueling platform the moment he disappeared. Bakura's Millennium Ring fell and clattered at her feet.

"Well look at that." Marik said. "The Millennium Ring. Looks like a certain someone has no use for it anymore." He bent down to pick it up, but Kayla's foot stopped his hand. Marik stood up straight and glared at her. "Get out of my way, fool."

Using the heel of her boot, Kayla brought her leg up behind her and took the Millennium Ring. She held it tight in her hands. "You want this? You'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands."

"I won that Item fair and square. I demand you give it to me."

"Go to hell." Kayla spat.

Marik smirked. "Foolish girl, you forget the power that I possess." He brought up his Millennium Rod again. "Now, I command you to hand over the Ring."

Kayla felt herself slowly lose control of her body. Her hand slowly lifted to give him the Item. The eye of Horus suddenly appeared on her forehead, and Kaia's energy filled her body. "No!" she growled. "I won't let you."

She brought up her hand and a bolt of golden light shot Marik in the chest, causing him to fall on his back. Marik laughed. "Looks like some one's been dabbling in the arts of magic."

Kayla looked at her hands in amazement. _"How did I do that?"_

"Kayla!" a male voice yelled. Kayla spun around to see Yami standing on the platform. Marik stood up again, and gave a cruel smile. "So, how long have you been standing there Pharaoh?"

"Marik, what have you done to Bakura!" Yami demanded, noticing Kayla was holding Ryo's Millennium Ring.

"You tell me, Pharaoh. Where does one go after losing a Shadow Game?" Shock spread across Yami's face. Marik turned away from him. "Oh don't act so surprised. It won't be long before you join him."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Kayla said, causing Marik to turn back around. "Marik, I challenge you to a duel!"

Marik smiled. "Interesting. What are the stakes?"

"If I win, you return the souls of everyone that you've sent to the Shadow Realm, you give up your Egyptian God card, and you lose your spot in the finals.

"Alright." Marik said. "And when I win you'll hand over your strongest card, and your bracelet. But instead of sending your soul to the Shadow Realm, I have something else in mind. But that little surprise I won't reveal until after I win."

"Kayla, don't do this." Yami warned. "It's my destiny to defeat him. This burden should not be yours to carry. And besides, he has an Egyptian God Card."

"Yami, I may not have a God Card, but I do have faith. Both in myself and my cards. I can do this. Trust me."

Yami gave her a small, sad smile. "Alright. I trust you. I'll be rooting for you."

"Thank you Yami." Kayla said, smiling back. "And besides, if I win, that means one less evil duelist we need to worry about." She turned to Marik. "Marik, I accept your dueling terms."

"Then I accept your challenge, little Kayla."

With that said, both duelists prepared their Duel Disks and their decks. Yami jumped down from the platform, ready to watch.

"Let's duel." Both duelists said in unison.

Then, the real battle began


	19. Temptation

Chapter 19

Temptation

* * *

**_((A/N: Kayla's deck in this duel is based off of my own deck, give or take a few cards.))_**

**_

* * *

_**

Kayla had decided to switch up her normal strategy. She placed two faced down card and two monsters on the field. The Forgiving Maiden in defense mode, and the Hysteric Fairy in attack mode. Marik had placed a card face down as well, and played Witch of the Black Forest and Bowganian both in attack mode. He'd ended his turn there.

Kayla smiled to herself. Her fairy could easily take out one of his monsters. But the thought of his face down card was what worried her. She placed a Harpy Lady in attack mode, and taking a big risk, attacked his Witch with her Fairy.

"You activated my trap card." Marik said triumphantly. The card hologram lifted, revealing Negate Attack. "Hysteric Fairy's attack is now redirected towards own of your monsters!"

The attack redirected itself at Kayla's Harpy Lady, costing Kayla 1,300 life points.

"But that's not all." Marik said. "I also activate Coffin Seller. Each time one of your monsters is sent to the graveyard, you lose an additional 300 life points." Kayla's life points dropped down to 2,400.

The area surrounding Kayla began to grow darker. A gentle and comforting hand came down on her shoulder. She turned and saw her brother smiling at her. "Gavin?" She gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I just stopped by to watch you duel." Gavin said. "But Kay, listen to me. I appreciate you doing this, but you don't have to. You don't need to duel Marik."

"Yes I do." Kayla argued. "I'm trying to win your soul back! How could you say something like that?"

"Because my soul isn't worth yours. If you defeat him, he'll send you to the Shadow Realm. If you surrender now, he'll let you go and leave you alone."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Gavin shook his head. "That's the way he duels, Kay. Just give up the duel. He'll let us all go."

Kayla looked at him, confused. "But I thought I had to win your soul back from him in a duel."

"He's willing to change it if you just give up this one duel. He'll let all of us go in the end. Me, Mai, Ryo, and even Bakura."

The tension in Kayla's body went away at that. "All I have to do is forfeit, and he'll free you?"

Gavin nodded. "All you have to do is forfeit."

Kayla felt her hand slowly trail to the top of her Duel Disk. She opened up her mouth to declare her surrender, when Yami's voice reached her ears.

"Kayla, don't! It's a trick!"

Kayla quickly dropped her hand away from her Duel Disk turned to Yami. She then began to see the Shadow Magic trying to pry its way into her mind. She closed off her mind and her thoughts. Gavin faded away in a swirl of black mist.

She turned back and glared at Marik. "It'll take more than a few magic tricks to make me surrender to you, Marik." She snapped. "I'm not giving up. Not yet." She was about to draw her next card, when she realized that her life points had dropped again. "What the hell?"

Marik laughed. "Oh, did I forget to mention that Bowganian has a special ability? You must forgive me, my dear. I was so distracted with the thoughts I gathered from your mind, I completely forgot to say it."

"Wait, you gathered thoughts from my head? What do you mean?"

"The whole point of that encounter with the Shadow Magic you just received was so I could sift through your memories, little Kayla." Marik said, smiling cruelly. Kayla shivered. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"I have my reasons. Now, as I was saying before you interrupted me, Bowganian has a specially ability. During your turn, Bowganian attacks, taking 600 life points from you. If my math is correct, then your life points are now at 1,800."

Kayla clenched a fist. The duel had barely even started and she was already losing! She pushed her hair back from her face and sighed heavily. "Come on Kayla. You can do this." She murmured to herself. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and drew a card.

When she opened her eyes again, she felt them go wide. "But, how?" she thought. "I know for a fact I didn't have this card before!"

In her hands, she now held the last card she'd ever think she'd have. The Winged Dragon of Ra.

Another surprising thing was that she could read the text written on the bottom. Almost as if it was written in English!

_"How…?"_ She repeated in her mind. _"How do I have this card! How can I read this!"_

She then remembered bumping into Marik, back when everyone called him Namu, on the first day of the Finals. Did this card get mixed up with hers when he gave her back her deck?

_"That's not possible."_ She thought, trying to answer her own question _"He summoned it during the duel with Mai. Unless there's more than one of these cards…"_

Another question soon came to her mind. _"Should I summon it?"_

_"Kayla, I would advise against that." _Kaia thought to her. _"It's all too much of a coincidence. I would throw that card away as soon as this duel is over."_

"But what if this is another copy of Ra?" Kayla thought back. _"What if this is the only card that could help me win? It's either I summon it on my next turn, or Marik does on his. I know that's what he's planning."_

_"It's your call, Kayla. I wouldn't do it…. But if you feel this is the only way…. Then go ahead."_

Kayla sighed, racking her brain for the solution. She held Ra tight in her hand and looked at the rest of her hand for a solution. She then smiled.

She'd found it.

"Marik, I play my Blast Magician in attack mode." She said, slapping the card on her deck. "And I also play the magic card, Swords of Revealing Light! You are unable to attack for three whole turns. Meaning my life points are safe from Bowganian's special attack.

"But that's not all. In my hand, I hold the one card that will lead to my victory! Prepare to lose!"

Marik laughed. "I know exactly what card you hold in your hand little Kayla, and allow me to say, that if you play it, you are the one who will lose this duel. That card will lead to your own destruction. It is you who should be prepared to lose!"

* * *

_To Be Continued…._


	20. Wrath of the Gods

Chapter 20

Wrath of the Gods

* * *

**_((A/N: Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh: ... Stuff happened. Now cue the Yu-Gi-Oh theme music!_**

**_Also, this will probably be one the only group of chapters where I actually give a play-by-play of the duels. Normally I wouldn't do that.))_**

_

* * *

_

Kayla looked at Marik, confused. "What do you mean by 'my downfall'?"

Marik chuckled darkly. "Why don't you summon the card and find out. I think I'll find your reaction very entertaining."

Kayla looked back at her card. She thought over her decision again. Was it the right one? She thought about what Marik had said for a moment. Then the thought occurred to her. _"Could he be bluffing?"_

She was so frustrated; she felt the need to tear her hair from her head. If she summoned Ra, and Marik was right, she had no idea what would happen. But if she didn't summon Ra, Marik eventually would and she would lose.

"I'm waiting, Kayla." Marik said, tauntingly.

_"Kaia, I'm sorry. But I have to do this."_ Kayla thought to the Priestess. She was ready to make her move, when another voice entered her mind.

_"Don't you dare summon that card. You'll doom us all."_

Kayla gasped slightly._ "Bakura?"_

_"Yes it's me you idiot. Now listen to me. If you summon that card, it **will** destroy you." _Bakura thought back._ "It's a fake. Marik slipped it into your deck. He knew that you would be tempted to summon it in a situation like this. _

_"If you summon that card and gain control of it with the chant, which I know you can, you'll anger Ra. you'll end up comatose like that fool Odeon."_

Kayla looked at the card. She couldn't tell any difference between this card, and the card she'd seen Mai hold. But the more she thought about it, it made a lot of sense.

_"Alright."_ She said. _"I'll get rid of it as soon as this duel ends. But what if Marik summons his Winged Dragon of Ra?"_

_"I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but you need to have faith in yourself. You can still win this Kayla. Just hurry up with it already. I'm stuck here with the old Marik and Ryo. Do you have any idea how annoying those two are? I can barely stand them alone, but when they're together in the same area as me…."_

_"What was that you said about hurrying up the duel?"_

Bakura paused._ "Just get on with it."_

"Stalling won't get you anywhere, Kayla. You'll have to make a move sooner or later." Marik said.

Kayla glared at him. She then remembered she had two cards face down on the field. At least one of them could help.

"I activate my face down magic card, Dane Keto the Cure Master." She said. "My life points increase by 1,000." She smiled, as her life points went up to 2,800.

"So that was your great move that would allow you to win?" Marik taunted.

Kayla ignored him. "Your turn." She snapped.

Marik smiled, making her skin crawl. "I can't attack for three turns, remember? I guess all I can do is play this." He slid the card onto his Duel Disk. "I play Crusader of Endymion. I also place one card face down."

He now had three monsters on the field, and Kayla realized the possible mistake she'd made. Three turns was just enough time for him to prepare an ultimate attack. One that would wipe out the rest of her life points. And she knew exactly what move he was going to make.

But it was his face down card that worried her. She'd made the mistake of attack while he had face down cards already. She wasn't about to make that mistake again.

She drew a card, and smiled. "I play the magic card, Harpy's Feather Duster, destroying all of your trap and magic cards on the field." His face down card went away.

Marik smirked. "Very clever my dear, but I'm afraid this duel is about to come to an end. You made a grave mistake the moment you challenged me. Now, you will face the wrath of the gods."

"You can't attack for another two turns!" Kayla shouted.

Marik's smirk grew wider. "Not for long. I play De-Spell, allowing me to deactivate your Swords of Revealing Light!"

**_((A/N: I was a pain in the ass trying to remember what card this was. I plundered the wiki trying to find it!))_**

The swords shattered, freeing him from the spell card. "And now, I sacrifice all three of my monsters in order to summon my ultimate beast, the Winged Dragon of Ra!"

"No!" Kayla shouted. "I'm not going to lose this duel! Not like this!"

Marik laughed. "It's too late, my dear. Prepare to feel the wrath of Ra!"

"Kayla! You need to stay strong!" Yami shouted to her.

Kayla shut her eyes. Marik spoke the words of the chant, causing her heart to pound within her chest. "I'm sorry, Gavin." She whispered."I'm sorry to everyone. But there's no way I can win this one."

"Now, Winged Dragon of Ra, destroy my opponent!" Marik shouted.

Yami tried to get on the platform to help Kayla, but the Shadow Magic being used for this duel was too powerful, and prevented him from passing through.

Within her soul room, Kaia could feel a strong and dark power rapidly approaching Kayla. She then realized what his little "surprise" was. She gasped. "He plans on actually killing her!"

Using all the power she had, she pulled Kayla's mind into her soul room, and took over her body. _"I'm sorry Kayla, but I'm not letting you get killed."_

_"Kaia, what are you doing!"_

_"You'll see."_

When Kaia took over and opened her eyes, Ra's fire had destroyed Kayla's monsters, and was now approaching her. Kaia brought up her hands to shield the blast.

Fire blasted Kayla's side of the platform. Yami cried out her name, trying even harder to break the Shadow Magic surrounding the field. Marik laughed manically. "It's no use, Pharaoh. Your little friend is dead."

"Not quite, Marik!" I strong and powerful voice shouted. When the smoke cleared, Marik and Yami could see Kayla standing there holding a ball of fire between her hands.

"That's not possible!" Marik shouted, taking a step back. "Her mind was weak! The Shadow Magic behind Ra's attack should have destroyed her!"

"Her mind is not weak, Marik. It just wasn't ready to face the power of Ra." She said. "My mind however, has had 5,000 years to prepare for a Shadow Game like this.

"_You_ may have won this duel, you may gain Kayla's strongest card, you may gain her bracelet, and you may take her spot in the finals, but Kayla _will_ live to see another day. _I _will make sure of that!"

The voice coming from Kayla sounded very familiar to Yami. The voice made him think about his past for some odd reason, and he couldn't figure out why.

"And who exactly is the strong mind I am speaking to?" Marik asked with a smirk on his face. "Are you the fabled Priestess sworn to protect the Pharaoh?"

"Kayla" threw the ball of fire to the side, and walked over to Marik. "If you have as much knowledge in the ancient texts as you claim, then you already know the answer Marik. But if you ever get the idea in your head to harm Kayla or the Pharaoh again, remember this. I, Kaia Mubarak, will stop you."

Marik's smirk widened. "I'll be waiting then, Kaia Mubarak."

Kaia then gave Kayla control over her body again. Marik saw the change overcome her. "Now, little Kayla. I believe I win this duel. I now gain your strongest card, and your bracelet."

Kayla glared at him. She didn't want to, but for the sake of her dignity, and the rules of the tournament, she had to.

"Fine." She sifted through her deck, until she found it. Super Ancient Dinobeast **_((A/N: I actually do have this card in my deck.))_**

She then slid the bracelet off of her wrist. _"Are you still with me, Kaia?"_

_"Of course I am. That bracelet wasn't what housed me, Kayla. It's not like the Millennium Ring. It did house me for the 5,000 years that my spirit was dormant, but I can freely leave it now that my reincarnation has awoken._

_"The bracelet itself holds another power, other than protecting you from the Shadow Games. One that only you can unlock. So we don't have to worry about Marik finding it."_

Kayla sighed with relief. The Shadow Magic around the field then lifted, and Marik prepared to leave. Yami ran up and stood next to Kayla. "Are you alright?"

Kayla nodded. "I'm fine. A bit shaken up, that's all."

Marik laughed. "You might as well get used to it, little Kayla. Thanks to your spirit friend, Kaia, you've become even more involved in this battle." Then, looking over his shoulder, he said, "And do tell Kaia this, I look forward to our next duel."

"I'm out of the finals now, Marik." Kayla shot back. "So you're going to have to wait a while for that duel."

Marik chuckled darkly. "I never said it was going to be a tournament duel."

With that being said, he walked away.

"Don't worry, Kayla." Yami said. "I'll help you win your card and your bracelet back. I won't let him get away with this."

Kayla realized she was still holding Bakura's Millennium Ring. She tightened her grip on it. "Neither will I." she whispered.

She then walked to the elevator with Yami. She glanced down at the Ring and thought to herself, _"I'll make Marik pay for everything he's done. That son of a bitch picked the wrong girl to piss off. I'll get everyone out of the Shadow Realm."_

She looked up as the elevator doors opened on her floor. She walked ahead of Yami, ignoring his calls to her.

_"Even if I have to die trying."_

**_*End of Season Two*_**


	21. A Change of Plans

Chapter 21

Season 3

A Change of Plans

Before Kayla had gone to bed that night, she'd placed the Millennium Ring on her night stand right next to her picture from Egypt.

"I will get them out of the Shadow Realm if it's the last thing I do." She whispered to herself. Kaia was surprised to see such a change come over her. Her heart used to be full of determination and ambition. Now it still had the determination, but her heart also held hatred and anger. Part of her couldn't blame her for having so much scorn towards Marik. But the other part of Kaia feared that Kayla would become the way Marik now was.

_"Kayla, you need to relax. You'll get your chance for revenge soon. Right now, we must focus on other things."_

Kayla relaxed slightly. _"You… You're right. I need to calm down. It's just…."_

_"I know, Kayla. I understand. You should get some rest though. Even if you aren't in the finals anymore, you still need your strength."_

Kayla sighed, and laid down on her bed. She was too tired to even think about changing clothes. She eventually fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

She hadn't felt such bliss from sleep in a very long time.

* * *

The next morning Kayla found herself half way off of her bed. When she awoke completely, she felt the blimp shift suddenly, sending her to the floor. Her knee banged against her dresser, causing her to hiss in pain. "What the hell!"

She then heard someone outside her door knocking.

"Yo Kayla, you awake?" she heard Joey shout. "There's something screwy going on with the blimp. The gang and I are going to check it out."

Kayla stumbled to her feet. "Hang on, I'll be right out." She shouted back. She was going to make a grab of the Millennium Ring, only to realize that it wasn't there. _"That's weird."_ She thought. _"I know I set it there last night. No one else has been in here since then."_

The blimp shifted again, making her stumble to the floor again.

"Kayla, are you alright?" a soft and familiar voice asked.

Kayla looked up to see big innocent brown eyes looking directly into hers. Ryo held out a hand to help her up.

"Ryo?" Kayla gasped. "But how did… What are you…. How did you get back here?"

"I'll explain later, ok? We need to meet up with the others."

Kayla nodded, and took his hand. He helped her up, and the two ran down the hall to the elevator. Serenity stood there waiting for them.

"Serenity, what's going on?" Kayla asked.

"I'm not sure." She admitted. "Joey and the others went to the control room to go talk to Kaiba about it. I decided to wait for you."

Kayla nodded. "Thank you. I say we head up there now. I want to see for myself what the hell is going on here."

Serenity nodded, and pressed button. Within a few minutes they were reunited with the others.

"Hey, what's up with the turbulence?" Joey shouted. "Some of us actually sleep past five on this blimp."

"Doesn't seem that way with all the rude awakenings going on here." Kayla added with a smile. Yugi, Joey, and Tea all turned at that. Tea greeted her with a smile, and a small wave.

The blimp shifted again. Everyone clung to something in the control room to keep themselves from falling over.

"The auto pilot isn't responding Mr. Kaiba." One of Kaiba's suits said.

"Then make it respond." Kaiba snapped.

"But it's rejecting all of my commands! What should I do?"

"I pay you good money here." Kaiba growled. "Do whatever it takes to get us back on course to Kaiba Corp Island."

_"God, Kaiba is such an ass."_ Kayla thought. Out loud, she said. "He's doing the best he can, so cut the guy some slack will ya?"

Kaiba ignored her, as usual. He continued to stare at screen showing the island ahead of them. On the island stood a tall tower.

"Is that the final dueling site?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba nodded. "I built it from the ruins of my stepfather's empire."

"Kaiba Corp. wasn't always a gaming company." Mokuba explained. "It used to develop machines for war. But all that changed when Seto took over. That island used to be the central headquarters until Seto took down all the weapon factories. Then he built that dueling tower as a symbol of the new Kaiba Corp."

"Mokuba, that's enough." Kaiba hissed at his brother. Mokuba was taken aback by his brother's sudden change.

"I think we hit a sore spot." Joey whispered.

"Damn straight." Kayla mumbled, agreeing.

"I've got it!" The suit in control of the blimp said. "The blimp is taking commands from someone outside of the ship. Someone's hacked into the mainframe and changed our coordinates!"

"No way!" Mokuba shouted. "Security on this thing is state of the art!"

The blimp shifted downward, heading straight towards the ocean.

"Everyone hang on to something!" Tea shouted.

The blimp slammed and skimmed across the water, then regained its altitude. Everyone was thrown onto the floor.

"Is everyone alright?" Kayla asked.

"Besides the whiplash and the sprained ankle, I'm just peachy." Tristan groaned.

The screen that showed Kaiba Corp Island flashed suddenly. A young voice came from it. "Greetings Duelists."

The screen flashed again, and a little boy appeared on the screen. "I am the one in control now."

"Identify yourself. Now!" Kaiba hissed.

"Always barking orders aren't you? I've been observing you, and I think it's time I put you in your place, s  
Seto. From now on, I'll be calling the shots here. First rule of business is to put an end to your little card game."

Mokuba stood up, and pointed a finger at the screen. "You'll never get away with this you creep!"

"I already have." The boy on the screen shot back.

"Listen, kid. I demand to know your name." Kaiba said.

"Anybody else find it a little weird that we're having a debate session with a T.V. screen?" Kayla asked quietly. Yugi and the rest of the gang nodded at that.

"The name is Noah." The little boy said. "You and I go back a long way, Seto. And my games have just begun." There was another flash on the screen, and the boy was gone.

Suddenly, a huge metal building began to rise out of the water. Everyone gasped, and Joey almost jumped.

The blimp slowly made its way to land on the building. The pilot lost all control, and there was nothing left to do.

"The moment we land, I'll make that little brat pay." Kaiba growled.

"I want first crack at him." Tristan added.

Kayla gawked at them, shocked. "You seriously want to beat up a kid? What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

"Kayla's right." Duke added. "You both need to take it easy. He's just a kid for Christ sake."

The blimp then landed, and Noah came back on screen. "Thank you for dropping by Seto. Now it's time for you and your friends to exit the ship. And refusal is not an option here."

The exit ramp of the blimp opened, and everyone began to exit. Serenity was clinging to Joey, shaking.

"Now," Noah's voice on an intercom continued. "If you all will be so kind as to continue forward, we can continue this party. And don't bring anyone else with you. This invitation is for duelists only."

Behind her, Kayla heard Duke whisper, "You're no duelist."

"Yeah, well no one has to know that so shut it dice boy." Tristan shot back quietly. Kayla pretended not to have heard them.

Kaiba led the others down a long hallway. Ryo walked close to Kayla, and the both of them walked at the back of the group.

"What do you think is at the end of this hall?" Ryo asked quietly.

"I'm not sure what to think at this point." Kayla responded. "We'll just have to wait and see. In the mean time, are you ready to face what could be at the end?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Kayla saw a quick flash of light. She turned her head and saw Bakura had taken over, and he was now the one looking at her with a smirk on his face. "I am now."

Kayla said nothing to blow his cover. Something definitely seemed different about him now. The hostile fiery look he normally gave her was gone, and was replaced with a slightly softer look. Something about that look made her fell like she could trust him now. As always, she went with her gut feeling.

A door suddenly opened at the end of the hallway, revealing a room. Once everyone was inside it, a bright light flashed.

"Welcome, Mr. Kaiba." A group of voices said. "We've been expecting you."

Kaiba gasped, and stepped back. "No! It… It can't be!"

Five men stood in front of them, all wearing suits. One held a cane in his hand. "You should've known we'd be back, Seto Kaiba. And now we are, and we want revenge."

* * *

**_A/N: I have now become the evil Queen of Cliff Hangers. :D_**


	22. A Virtual Nightmare

Chapter 22

A Virtual Nightmare

* * *

**_A/N: Hooray for quick updates!_**

**_

* * *

_**"Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?" Kayla asked. "Who are those guys?"

"I can't put my finger on it, but these guys seem really familiar." Yugi said.

"These are the five creeps that tried to get rid of Seto, and take over Kaiba Corp!" Mokuba reminded them. "They're known as the Big Five. They were Kaiba Corp's board of directors."

"That's right!" Joey remembered. "They trapped Kaiba in that virtual reality game he created until we saved his ass."

Mokuba nodded. "When they failed, they were imprisoned in the virtual world instead of Seto."

"But Noah hacked into the Kaiba Corp computer mainframe." One of them said. "And when he discovered that well all shared a common enemy, he uploaded our minds into his virtual world. Now, we've devised a new game with Noah's help."

"What kind of game are we talking about here?" Kaiba asked.

"Is he seriously considering this?" Kayla whispered to Tea. "This is insane!"

Tea shrugged. "That's Kaiba for you."

"Oh, it's a game you're quite familiar with Mr. Kaiba." Another one of them said. "It's a virtual Duel Monsters tournament, and all of you are invited to participate."

"Why do you guys want to duel us?" Yugi asked.

"Our minds have been trapped in this virtual world for so long, we've lost our bodies." One replied.

"But if we defeat you in Noah's dueling arena, we'll return to the real world in your bodies." Another one said. "Now, duelists, it's time to pay a visit to our special dueling world."

Suddenly, everything began to shake, twist and turn. Kayla felt something tug on her body, pulling her. She closed her eyes; try to repress the sickness welling in her stomach.

When she opened her eyes again, she and everyone else were laying on the ground of a jungle.

Kayla sat up, and rubbed the back of her head. "Hey, are you guys alright?" she asked.

"We're fine over here." Tea answered.

"Same over here." Yugi added.

When everyone was on their feet again, they began to look around. Kayla reached out to touch a tree branch, only to have her hand go right through it! "Guys, look at this." She said, turning around. She then saw Kaiba and what looked like a Duel Monster standing in front of them.

But Kaiba had somehow changed his clothes in the fast two minutes. _"Wait a second…" _Kayla thought, scanning her friends. She found Kaiba, wearing his normal clothing, standing ahead of them. _"But, how…?"_

"Listen up you fools." A loud voice said. "We're about to demonstrate out new form of dueling, so pay close attention."

Kayla walked back to the group and stood next to Bakura. She crossed her arms and watched.

"In our world, we play by a new set of rules we call the Deck Master system. Each duelist must choose a Deck Master. Blue Eyes White Dragon will serve as Virtual Kaiba's Deck Master."

Kayla watched as virtual Kaiba used his Lord of Dragon and Flute of Summoning Dragon to bring out two more Blue Eyes. He then sent the Blue Eyes serving as His Deck Master out onto the field.

"So it looks like you Deck Master stands next to you until you chose to summon it to the field." Yugi pointed out.

Virtual Kaiba then combined all three of his Blue Eyes, creating the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It then attacked the Duel Monster standing opposite of him, but the monster was able to shield itself with a special ability, Total Defense Barrier.

The attack redirected at Virtual Kaiba, destroying both him, and his monster. "Soon, that will happen to the real Kaiba. You see, if your Deck Master is destroyed, you automatically lose the duel, regardless of life points. When each of you loses a duel, one of us will take over your body."

"I've heard enough." Kaiba growled, clenching a fist. "I defeated you five before, and I can easily do it again."

The world around them began to shake again, and they found themselves back in the room they started in. The Big Five stood before them again.

"Keep in mind kids, none of you are going anywhere for a very long time. You're trapped here, and the only way to escape is if you defeat all of us in a duel. And to make sure that all of you suffer equally, we'll be dueling each and every one of you."

"Let's do this!" Joey shouted. "I'm ready to take you guys down right now."

Suddenly, a large hole opened beneath Joey's feet, and he fell through it. Serenity fell to her knees. "Joey! No!" she screamed. Tea and Kayla ran to her aid, she was in tears now.

"Before the duels start, we plan on separating all of you." One of the Five said.

A hole then opened up beneath Tea. Yugi cried out her name, running to help her.

Kayla reached out and grabbed onto Tea's outstretched hand. "Hang on, Tea. I've got you."

Kayla struggled to hold on to Tea's hand. She then heard Serenity, Duke and Tristan cry out, so she knew they had fallen.

Sweat formed on Tea's palm, causing her to slide from Kayla's grasp. "Kayla, I'm slipping!" she shouted.

Kayla glanced over and saw Kaiba and Mokuba fall through too. Her own hand was beginning to sweat, and Tea slipped from her grasp, and fell.

"Tea, no!" Kayla shouted, dropping to her knees.

"That's enough!" Yugi shouted. "What did you do with them?"

"You'll soon find out." One of the Five laughed. Then, Yugi fell through the floor.

"Kayla grab on." She heard Bakura say. She looked up and saw Bakura's outstretched hand. "Grab on now!" he shouted.

The floor began to open up beneath her. She grabbed onto Bakura's arm just as she had started to fall, pulling him with her.

Kayla then felt something hard under her. She opened her eyes to see that she and Bakura had ended up in the middle of a forest.

She groaned and sat up. "You alright?" she asked Bakura.

"Yeah." Bakura said, standing up. "When I told you to grab on, I was going to keep you from falling. I didn't want to be pulled down with you."

"Well sorry." Kayla said, standing up. "Next time, be more specific." She dusted the dirt off of her pants. "Where are we?"

"What does it look like?" Bakura snapped. "We're in a forest."

"I gathered that much on my own, thank you." Kayla shot back. "I meant I want to know where we are in the virtual world. I also would like to know where everyone else ended up."

"Trying to get away from me so soon?" Bakura asked, smirking.

"No, I just want to know if everyone's alright. That's all."

"I'm sure that's what it is." Bakura said. "By the way, you might need this." He reached into the pocket of his jeans, and tossed something to her.

Kayla caught it, and gasped. "How did you…?"

Bakura smiled at her. "They don't call me the Thief King for nothing, my dear."

Kayla now held her bracelet that Marik had won from her. She slipped it onto her wrist, and started walking with him. "Let me guess, that's also how you got your Millennium Ring back?"

"Something like that." Bakura replied. "Let's just say you need to get a better lock on your door."

Kayla shuddered slightly, but let it go. The two continued walking, prepared for anything that came their way.


	23. A Moment of Weakness

Chapter 23

A Moment of Weakness

The day dragged on, and the two found themselves going around in circles. The forest seemed to change around them, making it difficult to find a way out. Was Noah trying to mess with them?

"Call me crazy, but I think we're lost." Kayla said.

"What was your first clue?" Bakura growled. "We've been wandering around for hours."

"What exactly are we looking for other than a way out?"

"You mentioned finding everyone else, and I agree. The sooner we regroup, the sooner we can get out of this god forsaken place."

Kayla nodded. "That's true. We were all split up for a reason." She heard a low rumble, and looked up. "It looks like it's going to rain."

"It's all made by a computer. I highly doubt it will make a difference." Bakura said.

The moment he said that, the rain began to fall, splashing on the back of his neck. Kayla felt it too. "You were saying?" she pointed out.

Bakura glared at her for a moment, and then looked back ahead. "I see some caves up ahead. I say we head there."

With that said, Kayla and Bakura started running, and they didn't stop until they were completely sheltered from the rain.

"If this is supposed to be a virtual world, how could we feel any of that?" Kayla asked.

"Hell if I know." Bakura said. "All I know is that it's bloody cold in here."

Kayla reached into her back pocket and pulled out her lighter. She flicked it on. Despite it being a small source of light, it lit up the cave pretty well. Looking around, Kayla could see small pieces of wood and some twigs.

Using her lighter as her guide, she gathered up as much wood as she could find, and started a small fire. "There." She said. "That should help keep the cold away."

Bakura walked over and sat down in front of the fire. "How long have you had that with you?"

"Since the beginning of the tournament. Never found a use for it until now. My brother gave it to me."

"Is there anything you own that actually belongs to you?" Bakura asked. "Your deck and duel disk all came from your brother."

"Those are the only things I have that do belong to Gavin." Kayla said. "The reason I have his dueling things is because they were the only way I could get into the finals. After he lost that duel in the beginning, I decided to take his place. But in order to do that, I had to duel representing my brother. Meaning I had to use his duel disk, and his deck.

"But after all of that was straightened out, and I had earned my locator cards, Ishizu had approached me. Though I didn't know who exactly she was a first. She told me that she was already claimed the eight duelist, but I had lost just as much as she had. She told me that she wasn't going to make it to the finals in time, and that I would have to take her place until she arrived."

"And that's how you got into the finals." Bakura concluded.

Kayla nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you in the finals. I know it has something to do with Yami, but that's all I know."

Bakura looked at her. "I seek to gain something the pharaoh possesses."

"It's not his Egyptian God card is it?"

Bakura scoffed. "I could care less about those damn cards. No. What I seek is his Millennium Item." He stopped himself for a moment, wondering why he was telling her all of this.

"What so important about these Items anyway?" Kayla asked. "I mean, I know they're powerful and all, but is that really all they're good for? Power?"

"You could say that." Bakura said. "Let's just say, I encountered a great injustice caused by the Pharaoh's hand. Gaining the Millennium Items shall give me the power in order to carry out my revenge."

Kayla looked up at him; he was staring outside the cave now. His eyes seemed distant, and almost in pain.

_"Maybe there is more to him than I originally thought."_ Kayla wondered.

_"Don't fall for it." _Kaia snapped.

_"Hey, look who's awake."_

_"Ha, ha. Very funny. But I'm serious Kayla, don't fall for his act. He's just trying to gain sympathy from you. He wants you to assist him with his future plans."_

_"Where is all this coming from?"_ Kayla asked.

_"I'm speaking from experience. Let's just say that…. I've done some digging around my memories. I'm beginning to remember a lot of things now."_

_"Experience… Are you saying he's done this before?"_

_Kaia scoffed. "You'd be surprised. I'll explain later. Right now, you should be getting some sleep."_

_"Yes mom."_ Kayla thought back sarcastically. Kaia said nothing in response.

Kayla leaned back against the cave wall, dosing off a few times. After a few minutes, she gave into Kaia's suggestion, and fell asleep.

* * *

_Kayla awoke to hear something thrashing around Kaia's soul room. She could hear cries of frustration, followed by something crashing into the walls._

_When she completely opened her eyes, she was in Kaia's soul room. What she saw made her gasp._

_Kaia was trashing her room, throwing things around. Kayla jumped up, and took a hold of her arm. "Kaia stop! What's the matter with you?"_

_Kaia glared at her, tears rimming her eyes. "I can't remember it, Kayla. I remember all but one damn thing. No matter how hard I try to remember it…. it slips away."_

_Kayla gave a quick look around, seeing that the wall telling Kaia's story was almost complete, and the painting that originally started out as a pair of eyes, began to reveal two faces._

_Bakura and Kaia._

_"I only have one piece of the memory." Kaia said, on the brink of bursting into tears. "It's killing me Kayla. It's taunting me. I have to remember it. But I can't! I just can't!" She dropped to her knees, breaking into tears._

_Kayla knelt down in front of her. "Kaia, it's all right." She said soothingly. "I'll help you remember. I promise."_

_"That's not enough!" Kaia shouted, jumping to her feet again. She made her way over to her vanity, slamming her hands down on it, and staring into her mirror._

_"Even when I look in the mirror, it taunts me." she said quietly. "The one memory that refuses to come back to me. It replays the one scene I remember from it, over and over again._

_Kayla stood by her, and looked into the mirror. The mirror had begun to change, showing a scene._

_It showed Kaia on her knees in front of Bakura. Tears were streaming down her face. "Bakura please, you can't do this. This is wrong and you know it!"_

_Bakura looked down at her; his eyes were as hard as stone. "Kaia, get out of my way this instant. I have to do this. It's the only way."_

_"Bakura, please…. Don't. There's another way. It's not too late to turn back." He made no sign of backing down. "Bakura, please listen to me!"_

_The scene cut off suddenly, turning black. All Kayla could here, was Kaia shouting, "Bakura no!" and then a piercing scream._

_Kayla took a step back. Kaia clenched her fists, scratching into her vanity. "Now you see what constantly haunts me in my dreams. And no matter how hard I try, I can't remember the rest."_

_Kaia then picked up the hair brush that rested on her vanity. With a quick flick of her wrist, she sent it flying into the mirror, causing it to shatter._

_The whole room shook suddenly, and the stone tablet that held the picture of her and Bakura shattered along with the mirror._

_Kaia dropped to the floor again, bursting into tears. Kayla got down next to her again, and began to try and comfort her._

_It was that small act of kindness of Kayla's part that kept Kaia from destroying the entire soul room._


	24. Meeting Up

Chapter 24

Meeting Up

Yugi and Tea found themselves in a forest. Both of them were exhausted from the day's previous events. Both Tea and Yugi had defeated two members of the Big Five, and were safe.

But Yugi worried about the rest of the gang, and wondered if they had had as much luck.

After another hour or so of wandering, the sky grew dark with clouds, and rain began to fall.

Tea brought up her arms to shield the rain from falling on her head. "What gives? The sky was clear a minute ago."

"I'm not sure." Yugi said, looking around for some form of shelter. "Let's keep going. We need to keep dry."

The two ran until they saw firelight glowing off the walls of a cave.

"I think I see Ryo up ahead." Tea pointed out.

"I think you're right." Yugi agreed. "But I also see shelter, and warmth. Lets head over."

* * *

Bakura sat by the campfire, poking at it with a stick. Kayla had fallen asleep against the cave wall. She mumbled something in her sleep a couple times, commanding something, or someone, to stop something.

There were many things that came to mind when Bakura thought about her. She asked too many questions. She was sarcastic, stubborn, and at times, she didn't know when to keep her mouth shut. Yet, she definitely proved useful when she needed to be. But one thing that crossed his mind more than anything else was how much Kayla resembled _her_.

If he hadn't seen Kaia's death first hand, he would've thought that Kayla _was_ her.

_"If she hadn't gotten in the way-"_ He thought. _"-If she had just let things go the way they were supposed to…"_

Whenever the thought came to mind, he would quickly push them from his mind. He would remember the reason why he was here now. He would remember his hatred towards the pharaoh, his desire for vengeance, and everything would be right again.

Even though nothing could destroy the memories, his tactics kept them at bay. That is, until Kayla did something else that reminded him of her, then he would have to start all over again.

Kaia was stubborn, strong in both the mind and heart, and was aggressive when it came to fighting. Whether it was a simple debate, or to defend something she cared about, Kaia never held back.

And there he was, thinking about her again. He shook his head quickly, once again using his avoiding tactics.

He honestly had no idea what his feelings towards this girl. Her constant questions and moments of stupidity caused him to loath her. But the more he learned about her, the more interested he became. He saw her as many things, a tool to his plans being one of them. But could it be anything beyond that?

Just when that thought entered his mind, his Millennium Ring began to glow, sensing another Item nearby. Bakura had grown familiar to this presence, and knew instantly who it was.

Within a few minutes, he saw the Pharaoh making his way towards the cave.

* * *

After a few moments, Kayla had managed to calm Kaia down. The priestess had been ready to burn down her soul room in her rage. Kayla's comforting words and calm actions had prevented her from doing so.

There were small cuts along her arms from where the shattered mirror had struck her. Kayla helped her stand up again, and had her sit down on her bed. Kayla then swept up the shards of glass and was about to sweep up the shattered tablet.

Kaia stopped her at that. "Leave that alone. I can fix it."

Kayla looked over her shoulder at her. "Are you sure?"

Kaia nodded, and sat down again.

Kayla sat down next to her on her bed. "Kaia, listen. I can understand why you're frustrated. But you already have one part of the memory. That's something. Maybe there's something I can do to help you get the rest of it."

"That's the thing." Kaia said. "I've considered asking you, I'm just not sure what else you can do to help."

"Maybe if I were around Bakura a bit more, it would jog your memory?" She suggested reluctantly.

Kaia glared at her. "Hell no. You've gotten hurt around him multiple times over already. That is out of the question."

Kayla put up her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. You win. I'll try and think of something else."

Suddenly, Kayla could hear someone calling her name, and she felt something shake her. "Someone's waking me up." She said, looking back at Kaia. "I'll be back later, alright?"

Kaia nodded and with that said, Kayla was pulled back into the real world.

* * *

When Kayla awoke, she saw Yugi staring her with a big smile on his face. "Oh good, you're awake." He said. "I was starting to get worried."

Kayla nearly jumped. "Yugi? How did you find us?"

"It started raining." She heard a female voice say. "So we decided to come up here." Kayla sat up, and saw Tea sitting in front of the fire.

"It's raining again?" Kayla asked.

"It's been raining this whole time." Someone else said. Kayla's gaze fell on Ryo who was sitting a few feet away from Tea. He looked a bit shaken up.

"So what happened to you guys today?" Kayla asked them. "How did you two find each other again?"

"We both defeated one of the Five today." Yugi said. "After I won my duel, I was stuck in this long hallway of some sort. But then I found Tea during her duel, and when she won, we both decided to look for everyone else."

"Ryo and I were planning on doing the same until it started raining."

"Well once it stops, we should all look together." Yugi suggested.

"Agreed." Kayla said. "So, since you guys won the duels today, that means the Big Five can't challenge you again, right?"

"I think so." Tea replied. "I just hope that's the case. I don't ever want to go through that again."

"_I_ just hope everyone else is alright." Yugi added. "Not everyone that came here is a duelist. We need to find them before the rest of the Big Five do."

Kayla nodded, agreeing with him.

With everything straightened out, the four friends waited until the rain stopped. Once it did, they set out to search for the rest of the gang.


	25. Interference

Chapter 25

Interference

* * *

**_A/N: OHMIGOD! It has been a long while since I updated! I'm so so so so so soooooooo sorry! Trust me, I've wanted to update, but school and writers block decided to gang up on me and start kicking my ass! As of now, I will get back on writing schedule. Hope you all enjoy! _**

* * *

Within the next few days, Kayla had seen Joey duel against one of the Big Five, Johnson. She was about ready to take down one of them, herself. She was just itching to duel at least one of them. _"The faster we take down those freaks, the faster we can all get the hell out of here."_ she thought.

Eventually, the group found themselves traveling through a dark cave that seemed to have no end to it. Kayla used her lighter to help clear away the darkness, and the rest of the gang would fill her and Bakura in on their encounters with the Five.

"The bright side is," Tea said. "We've defeated at three of them. Only two more left."

"The only problem is that we don't know when or who they'll strike next." Yugi added.

Joey suddenly stopped in front of Kayla. He stood up straight, and grew rigid. With Yugi's words in mind, he took off running. "Serenity!" he called out. "I'm coming!"

"Joey! Wait up!" Tea shouted, running after him. The rest of the gang followed after her.

Within a few minutes, a female scream was heard, and Joey screeched to a halt. "That was Serenity!" he said frantically.

"We'll find her, Joey." Tea said, panting. "Don't worry; we're going to find her."

That didn't stop him. Joey took off running again, determined to find his sister.

"Joey, hang on!" Kayla shouted. This time, she was the one who led the others after him. He continued to call out for Serenity, only to receive the echo of his voice as a response.

Joey's hope increased within seconds. He could see the end of the tunnel ahead of them. Light spilled through the tunnel. With all of the speed left in them, the gang burst through the door and found themselves on a platform in a metal room.

Below them, they could see a duel in progress with Tristan, Duke and Serenity. Their opponent looked to be a giant robot.

* * *

**_A/N: Just a side note. I will be majorly tweaking the storyline here, if you can't tell already_**

* * *

"Now, witness the triumph of machine over man. Or should I say woman?" The opponent said. The rest of the gang knew it had to be one of the Big Five. "Machine King, prepare to attack her Forgiving Maiden, now!"

Kayla felt the same rush of adrenaline she'd felt during Mai's duel with Marik. She felt the urged to jump into the duel and stop the attack.

Without thinking, she grabbed onto the railing of the platform, and launched herself off of it. Tea and Yugi called after her, but she ignored them. She landed on her feet behind Serenity. Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she drew a card from her deck. She opened one eyes, seeing it was exactly the one she needed. She wasn't sure if this was going to work at all, but it was worth a shot. She slapped it onto her Duel Disk.

"Activate Negate Attack!" she screamed. Tristan, Duke and Serenity all turned and looked at her. They were unsure of whether she was crazy or not.

In the end, they concluded she wasn't.

The opponent took a step back. His attack had failed. "What's this?" he shouted. "You can't interfere with my attack. You're not a part of this duel! And even so, you're deck is not valid in this world."

"Looks like the guy in charge here says otherwise." Duke said. "If it's not allowed, the trap card wouldn't have even shown up on the field. Noah must've allowed it to happen himself."

"And if that's the case," Kayla said. "I'm joining in on this duel."

"You can't do this. I won't allow it!"

"I'm afraid you don't have a say in that, Nesbit." Noah's voice entered the argument. "I'm in control here, and I'm allowing the woman to duel. This discussion ends here."

A few moments later, Nesbit glanced over at Kayla. "Very well. I will give you ten minutes to reassemble your deck with the cards provided in our database. Then you shall join the duel. But keep in mind, no matter what you chose I shall still win this duel."

Suddenly, rows of cards appeared before Kayla's face. "Just touch the cards you want." Serenity said, filling Kayla in. Kayla nodded. "Thanks." She said, bringing up her hand to make a selection. Some cards that were already in her deck sat before her. She picked some of them, and made newer selections; cards that she had seen before, and liked.

Before her ten minutes were up she was ready. "Alright, Nesbit." She said. "Let's go."

"Select one Duel Monster to serve as your Deck Master." Nesbit reminded her.

"I remember." She drew her first hand, and smiled. "I chose Splendid Venus as my Deck Master."

The moment she said that, the Duel Monster appeared beside her. Not only was it a powerful monster, but its special effect would come in handy later.

"And for my first move." Kayla said. "I play Bountiful Artemis in defense mode, and place two cards face down." She turned to the rest of the gang. "Anything I need to know?"

"Just keep on the safe side." Duke said. "We've had a hard time taking down this guy ourselves. Tristan's lost the most life points out of all of us."

"Also," Tristan added. "We're not allowed to discuss strategies, or help each other out."

"Fun." Kayla said sarcastically. "Alright. Let's do this."

"It's my turn." Serenity said.

And with that said, the real duel began. It had taken both Serenity and Kayla a little time to get used to the Deck Master system.

Tristan's life points had dropped rapidly in his attempts to protect Serenity from her mistakes and Nesbit's attacks.

Nesbit's Final Artillery special effect had taken a toll on everyone throughout the entire duel. But Kayla had a plan to end that.

On her next turn, she put her plan into action. "I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master on Tristan, increasing his life points by 1000." She said. "Then I play Hysteric Fairy in defense mode. And then, I'll sacrifice my Fairy and Bountiful Artemis in order to summon Angel 07!" She discarded the two cards, and brought her new monster onto the field.

"When this card is Tribute Summoned, the effects of opponents' monsters cannot be activated. Meaning no more Final Artillery and your Machine King can no longer gain its 100 attack points from other Robot monsters. But that's not all. I'll attack your Machine King, costing you 300 life points."

"A clever move." Nesbit said. "But you're attack is only a minor setback. What I have in store will force all four of you to lose. Then _your_ minds will be trapped here. So prepare to lose everything!"


	26. Wrapping It Up

Chapter 26

Wrapping It Up

* * *

**_A/N: Hey guys! So yeah, remember how I said I'd get back on writing schedule? Yeah, I didn't count on school trying to murder me, and my creativity to blow a fuse. I promise from now on that I will update more often. Now, on to the card games!_**

**_Also, this is pretty much just a filler chapter.  
_**

* * *

As the duel continued, Serenity began to gain more confidence in her dueling. She'd watched closely when Tristan, Kayla, and Duke all took their turns. Each of them were setting up a pretty good defense. Duke had even gained the upper hand by playing a magic card that turned the field into a dice board. In result, Nesbit's remaining monsters were destroyed.

To be safe, Serenity kept her monsters in defense mode, and kept a few useful cards face down.

On Nesbit's turn, his confidence seemed to grow. He drew his card, and seemed please with the result. "Since I am acting as my own deck master," he said. "I call myself to the field." He took a few steps forward, and ended up on the field. "Then I shall play a card known as Recycling Plant. This allows me to revive one monster and fuse it with myself. And I choose Machine King!"

A light flashed on the field, and Nesbit had transformed into a stronger monster.

**_ A/N: Transformers theme anyone? :D_**

Nesbit's new form had gained additional attack points from magic cards he had lain out, giving him 5200 points. He was stronger than any of their monsters!

But Duke's magic card had come to their aide once again. Nesbit rolled the dice and ended up cutting his attack points in half. But even with the deducted points, he was still too powerful for anyone to attack.

When Duke's turn came, his roll had cost his monster 1000 attack points and a huge chunk of his life points. With his monster destroyed, the dice game card was gone.

Kayla bit her lip, thinking. It was her turn now, and she had three cards face down. At least one of them she knew would help.

Smirking, she flipped the card over. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light. You are unable to attack us for three of your turns." She said. "And then I play Blast Magician in defense mode." She looked over at Serenity. "You're move kiddo."

Serenity nodded and drew her card. She ended up sacrificing her Lady Panther to summon Marie the Fallen One. And through her deck master's special ability, Tristan's face down card and Kayla's Deck Master Ability, Serenity had created Saint Joan and was able to completely wipe out Nesbit's life points.

With Nesbit destroyed, the duel was over. Tea, Yugi, Joey, and Bakura had joined them to celebrate. Serenity threw her arms around Tristan's neck, and a deep blush crossed his face. Kayla smiled and winked at him. She knew that those two had become extremely close.

"So what do we do now?" Tea asked.

"We need to move on and find a way out of here." Yugi said.

Suddenly, a large door appeared before them. "I think that's what we're looking for." Joey added.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Kayla asked.

Everyone nodded, and Yugi led them all through the door. A light flashed, and they found themselves in the parking lot of a storage facility.

Suddenly, a motorcycle drove by carrying both a man in a trench coat, and an unconscious Mokuba. Soon after, a second bike, driven by Kaiba, whipped past them.

"Just when we thought things were going to get easier." Tea said.

"Should we go after them?" Kayla asked.

"Kaiba may need our help." Yugi added. "I say we follow them. But we'll need something fast."

While they were discussing that, Joey was walking over to an old truck part a little ways away from them. The doors were unlocked, but there was no key to start it.

"Let see if Joey still has the magic touch." He thought smiling.

After a few minutes of him being away, Yugi finally took notice when he heard the truck roar to life. Everyone turned in Joey's direction.

"Yep!" Joey shouted grinning. "I still got it!"

"Everybody get in." Yugi said. "We're going after them."

Joey and Tristan took the front seats of the truck while everyone else got onto the bed of it. "Everyone hold onto something!" Joey shouted, slamming down on the gas pedal, pushing the tiny truck to its limit.

His warning had come too late for some. Yugi and Kayla both found themselves flung back in the truck bed. Yugi ended up hitting his head on Tea's elbow, and Tea bumping into Serenity. Kayla had knocked into Bakura, sending them both into the wall.

"Slow down Joey!" Tea shouted. "You're going to get us all killed back here!"

"I told ya to hold onto something!" Joey shouted back.

"Next time, try warning us before you slam on the gas!"

It took Kayla a moment to realize who she'd ended up crashing into. She finally noticed it when he said, "Would you mind please getting off of me?"

Kayla had been around him long enough to notice when Ryo was himself, or just Bakura using Ryo's voice. Bakura was still in control of him, and when she didn't respond fast enough, he growled, "Get the hell off of me!" He'd said it loud enough for her to hear, but quiet enough so no one else could.

Kayla quickly moved away. "Sorry about that." She said, scooting back to her original spot.

The others noticed the sudden discomfort between the two, and turned to face them. Bakura had become aware of it, and only nodded in response to Kayla. He didn't want his cover blown.

Kayla looked out into the distance, seeing a duel in progress with Kaiba and… Jinzo? She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But sure enough, there was a Jinzo dueling Kaiba.

The next thing they all knew, Joey had slammed on the breaks and jumped out of the truck. The others followed. The only ones that hadn't were Bakura and Kayla.

_"Why are we always the ones that end up getting left behind together?"_ she wondered to herself.

Neither of them made an attempt to move or talk to each other for once.

As Kaiba's duel dragged on, Kayla found herself falling asleep. After a few moments, she gave in to it.


	27. Old Flames

Chapter 27

Old Flames

"Well, well, well. Look who's here. The mighty High Priestess of the Pharaoh has come to grace me with her presence. How wonderful."

"Not the best way to talk to someone that's trying to help your ass, Bakura."

"Help?" Bakura laughed. "You 'helped' 5,000 years ago, and look where that got us."

Kaia turned to him, her eyes fixed into an icy glare. "Do _**not**_ bring that up." She hissed.

Bakura smirked. "You don't even remember it, do you?"

Kaia didn't answer. She turned away, prepared to leave him at the mercy of the Shadow Realm. "You don't want my help? Fine. Don't say I didn't try."

Bakura crossed his arms. "I never declined your offer."

"You're implying that you are." Kaia said. "So I'll just leave. See if anyone else wants to come pull your sorry ass out of here."

"Wait." Bakura said quickly "Why do you want to help me out of here anyway?"

"It's not me that wants it. If anything, I'd let you rot here. But Kayla… She's the one that wants you back."

"It's been 5,000 years. You can't be mad at me still."

"Mad?" Kaia shouted, spinning around to face him. "I'm beyond mad! I'm furious as hell!"

"Do you even remember why?" Bakura asked, smirking.

Kaia clenched her fists. "Get that smirk off your face." She growled. "And no, I don't remember why. Nor do I want to. All I know is that I'm angry with you, and I have every reason to be"

She turned around to leave again, but Bakura stopped her. He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her against him. He laughed as he did so. "You're a terrible liar." He whispered in her ear. "You_ do_ want to remember. It's been haunting you, hasn't it?" He brushed his fingers against her bare shoulder with his free hand.

Kaia stomped down on his foot and sank her elbow into his side, pushing him off of her. Bakura fell to the ground. She spun around and glared down at him with her hands on her hips. "Never. Touch me. _Again_!" she hissed.

Bakura chuckled, and stood back up. "You didn't have a problem with it back then." He said. "In fact, you _loved_ it when I held you like that. Any time I touched you, for that matter."

"That was then." Kaia said. "And this is now. Whatever we had before is gone now."

Bakura's smirk returned. "That's alright. I can just relive it all again. With Kayla."

Kaia froze, a fire seemed to form in her eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"Maybe I would. Maybe I wouldn't. Remember this I haven't changed. I'm still the same I was back then."

"You disgust me." Kaia spat.

"And yet, I don't see you leaving."

Kaia was silent for a moment. But then, came back with, "As I told you, I'm not here for my own needs. Kayla wants you back, and I want to see her happy. And for whatever god damn reason, you seem to make her happy."

Bakura didn't respond for a moment. Was the girl truly that stupid? "I can't imagine why." He said.

Kaia shrugged. "That makes two of us. But don't go thinking it's just her. I see it in you too."

"You're mad."

"Call it what you want, but I haven't been wrong so far. You too are in love."

"Again, I say, you're mad."

Kaia smirked. She had her own little trump card against him now. "So you coming or not?"

Bakura sighed. "Fine."

He walked over and stood next to her. From there, Kaia led him to the doorway she'd opened between the Shadow Realm and the real world. A little trick Kayla would learn in the future.

"By the way, where's Kayla's brother?" Kaia asked.

"You can't get him out." Bakura said. "Marik used a special kind of Shadow magic in his duel against Gavin. He used it to disguise himself as Odion so Kayla wouldn't recognize him, and made it so no one other than him can release Gavin."

Kaia blinked. "How did you know that?"

"Because Marik told me. A few days after my duel with her, he explained to me why he did it. He knew who she was all along, and wanted a trump card against her."

"If he knew who she was then why didn't he act sooner?"

"Because she didn't know who she was. She still doesn't. I'm pretty sure you don't even know. Yes, she's your reincarnation. Yes, she's supposed to protect the Pharaoh. But she plays a bigger role in this than anyone realizes."

"And I'm assuming you're not going to tell me, right?"

Bakura smiled at her. "Now what fun would that be?"

"Why are you doing this?" Kaia demanded. "Why are you tormenting me like this? Why are you tormenting Kayla?"

Bakura took a step closer to her. "Because I want you to remember." He whispered.

Before Kaia could even think of what to say, Bakura gave her a swift kiss. And before she could react to that, he had already stepped through the door.

It was then that the memories came back to Kaia of her time in Egypt. It was then that the images of her and Bakura flooded through her mind. The anger and utter hatred she'd felt for him returned as the damnable memory that had been haunting her returned as well.

"Why?" She whispered. "Why would he want me to relive that?"

From that moment forward, she swore she'd never help him again for as long as she lived. She stepped through the doorway, and returned to her soul room.

That had been three nights ago, after Bakura had lost his duel with Marik. And even now, Kaia regretted ever setting foot in the Shadow Realm.

* * *

_**A/N: ****Yay for updates! and this time it didn't take me 3 monthes to write it!**_

_******Also, there's something i'd like to bring up.  
**_

_**Ok, so I'm going to flat out say it.  
I SUCK at drawing. But I would like to have some fan art done for Cards of Destiny.  
So, i want to know, is there anyone that would be willing to draw fan art for it? (Mainly Bakura and Kayla, but whatever else you would like to do would be fine as well.) so if you would be willing to, I'd be eternally grateful. Anyone willing to do this will have an O.C. slot in my next installment of my fan fiction (which will be the sequel to Cards of Destiny) If you are interested, please tell me.**_

_**Thank you!**_

_**- Rowan**_


	28. Some People Change

Chapter 28

Some People Change

When Kayla finally awoke once again, she found herself thrown against the opposite wall of the truck bed. Joey had floored it again, sending her and Duke to the ground, hard.

"Warn me the next time you're gonna do that!" Duke shouted. "I'm not wearing a damn seat belt!"

"What's going on?" Kayla asked frantically.

"Why don't you ask them?" Bakura said sarcastically, pointing behind them. Kayla looked in the direction he pointed to see five duel monsters chasing after them.

"Let me guess, the Big Five?" Kayla said.

"Yep, that's them." Joey shouted from the cab. "Ryo, Kayla, set up a defense with your duel monsters to distract them, and hang on to something in the meantime!"

Kayla and Bakura brought up their arms and activated their duel disks. They both drew cards until they came up with five monsters, and laid them out on the duel disk. To Kayla's surprise, Joey's plan actually worked. _"That's the last time I doubt him."_ She thought to herself.

The next thing she knew, Kayla felt Bakura's hand grab onto her shirt. "Kayla, get down!" he shouted, pulling her to the ground just as a set of lasers blasted into the truck bed. The lasers had come from a Jinzo, and left a huge burn in the metal. Kayla's eyes widened, thinking about what could've happened if he hadn't helped her.

Suddenly, the truck swerved, and the gang found themselves off road. A few more attacks from the duel monsters sent the truck sliding, and crashing onto its side. Kayla's body rolled out of the truck bed, and into a cloud of dust.

Joey pulled himself out of the cab through the open window and sat on the door. "Everyone alright?" he asked. Serenity pulled herself up after him. "I'm okay." She said.

Duke slowly got to his feet, and Tristan did the same. "We're alright here."

Kayla picked herself back up with a small groan. "A little beat up, but I'll be fine."

"Same here." Bakura said, dusting himself off.

"For now you are." A gruff voice interrupted. One of the big five, whom Kayla had just realized she hadn't bothered to learn the names of, approached them, along with the remaining ones. "Soon, we will take over your bodies."

With that said, an argument erupted between the five over who got to take first pick out of the group. Bakura found this as the perfect opportunity to leave. Her grabbed onto Kayla's forearm, and pulled her with him towards the road. "Come on!" he said. "Let's get out of here."

Kayla looked at him then back at the gang. Before she could say anything to stop him, Bakura started running, dragging her with him.

The gang didn't seem to notice they were even gone, and neither did the Big Five.

* * *

Soon the two found themselves deep in a desert-like area. Canyons rose up around them, and small gusts of wind blew sand all about. Kayla felt suddenly at home here.

"You want to explain to me what that was all about?" Kayla asked.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I sure as hell wasn't going to sit around waiting for my body to be taken over."

"So you drag me along and abandon the gang?"

"They're not my friends Kayla, I could care less."

"Then what does that make me?" Kayla countered.

Bakura stopped in his tracks, and turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a part of Yugi's group. If you don't consider them your friends, then what does that make me?"

Bakura turned away, trying to avoid her question, but her eyes showed her that she wasn't going to give in. He sighed, and said, "Someone I consider neither a friend nor foe. Be grateful for that."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm heading…." She paused in mid-sentence as she turned around. The road that they were just on a few moments ago was missing. There was nothing but sand.

Kayla kicked up a dust cloud in frustration. "God damn it Noah!" she shouted. She began cursing up a storm, using words even Bakura himself wouldn't use. "I am so sick of this! I'm sick of this virtual world, and I'm sick of this Noah kid!"

Bakura smirked, amused by her sudden change. Her chuckled, causing Kayla to turn and glare at him. "What's so funny?"

"This is the most I've seen you curse, and this is the most angry I've even seen you. I'm just amused by the fact that you're suddenly just so angry."

Kayla sighed, and sat herself down on a rock nearby. "I'm just... stressed. I've been stressed from the very beginning. This world is just making it worse."

"Either way, I find it rather amusing."

Kayla crossed her arms, and crossed one leg other the other. "By the way, I figured out how you got out of the Shadow Realm before."

Bakura crossed his own arms. "Oh do you?"

Kayla nodded. "Kaia went in and pulled you out."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised you figured it out. Took you long enough."

"Yeah, well, I've had other things on my mind than how you managed to get your ass out of the Shadow Realm, thank you very much."

Bakura stepped behind her. "You sound exactly like her when you talk."

Kayla turned her head, not taking her eyes off of him. "Really?"

Bakura nodded. "The resemblance is uncanny, even now. The more I look at you, the more I see her."

Kayla looked down at her bracelet, thinking about Kaia. It had been a long time since she'd last spoken to the priestess, she'd become worried. "Bakura," She said, breaking her momentary silence. "What happened between you two?"

Bakura had circled her until he was standing in front of her again. He sat down, and sighed. "It's a long story. One that I can't tell all of tonight. But I can tell you, that because of the cursed pharaoh, I've lost everyone I've known and loved. It was also because of him that I lost her."

Kayla looked up at him. "Really? How?"

Bakura closed his eyes for a moment. His hands clenched for a moment.

Kayla was stunned. He was showing some kind of emotion that didn't involve violence or his normally asshole-ness. **_(A/N: Is that even a word?)_**

"I can't…. Like I said. It's a long story. A story for another time. Another day."

Kayla could see that his tension with the subject increased every second. She slid down from her rock, and sat closer to him, placing her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "It's my fault. I never should've brought it up."

That moment, Bakura's memories began to flood his mind. 5,000 years ago, Kaia had brought up something that had put them both in this situation before. He'd felt the same way he'd felt before, but this time, with Kayla.

Bakura brought up both of his arms, and pulled Kayla closer to him, brining her into a gentle embrace.

Kayla hesitated at first, shocked. Her first instinct told her to get away from him as fast as she could. But then her common sense kicked in, telling her that for once, he meant her no harm. Soon, she returned his embrace.

She had no idea what had come over him at that point, but she knew that things would be different between the two of them.

* * *

**_((A/N: And that folks, is what I call fluff. See? I can write a cute fluffy scene. Bakura doesn't have to abusively evil ALL the time (though it does contribute to the reason why we love him.) Hope you all enjoyed! :D Stay tuned for the long awaited conclusion to Noah's Arc, and we continue on with the god damn Battle City Finals that everyone has seemed to forgotten about ;D And yes, i am skipping over a lot in the show, because seriously, who wants to read long drawn out chapters explaining nothing but cards games all the time?))_**


	29. Back to Battle City

Chapter 29

Back to Battle City

Kayla found herself being shaken awake the next morning by Bakura.

"Kayla, wake up." He snapped. "Something's happening."

Kayla sat up quickly. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Hello? Can you guys hear me?" a voice shouted. Kayla recognized it as Noah. "You all need to get out of here quickly. This entire world is going to be destroyed in eight minutes! Head to the Domino City Arcade, and await further instructions."

"Domino City?" Kayla repeated. "But how are we…?" She paused suddenly as a large ornate door appeared before them. She and Bakura slowly got to their feet, and approached the door. "Should we go through? This is Noah we're talking about." Kayla said. "He's been pulling tricks since the beginning."

"It can't hurt to try." Bakura said.

Kayla nodded, and reached out to touch the door. A bright light flashed, and the two found themselves standing in the middle of a road in town.

"Ryo! Kayla!"

The two spun around quickly to see Yugi and the rest of the gang running towards them. It had been Yugi that had called their names. "Thank god we found you!"

"Yeah, we thought we lost you after the Big Five." Tea added.

"Sorry guys." Kayla said. "I panicked and ran off. Ryo came after me, but by the time I stopped running we got lost."

"Sorry to stop ya there Kayla, but we need to get goin'." Joey said. "Last I checked, we had eight minutes to get out of here."

"Joey's right." Yugi said. "Let's get going."

Within minutes, the gang had reached the arcade. From there, Noah had instructed them to stand on the two platforms of the DDR game, one at a time. Kayla waited until it was just her, Bakura, and Yugi left. Since neither of them seemed eager to go first, Kayla did. Bakura followed soon after.

In a split second, Kayla found herself lying in some sort of pod. The glass door of the pod lifted up, opening to show that she and the rest of the gang were in a large control room. She stepped out of the pod, seeing the gang gathered around a computer.

She saw Mokuba sitting at the computer, typing away frantically.

"Wait, you mean Yugi's still in there?" Tea asked.

"Yes." Mokuba said "He went back to go get Seto." …. But wait, it wasn't Mokuba's voice Kayla heard…. It's was Noah's.

"Um, could someone fill me in here? I'm a little confused." Kayla said.

"We'll have to fill ya in later." Joey said. "It's kinda a long story."

"One that you will have to tell once you leave." Noah said, turning to them. "You need to head back to the blimp, now."

"Noah's right." Tea agreed. "Yugi will be fine Joey. Right now, we need to get back."

With that said, Tea led them out of the room. Kayla was hesitant at first, thinking if she should go back in to help Yugi.

_"Kayla, go."_ Kaia's voice entered her mind for the first time in days. _"Tea's right. Yugi will be fine. He can take care of himself."_

Kayla nodded, and followed the rest of the gang out. _"Hey, are you alright Kai? You haven't said a thing for a long time."_

_"I… I'm fine Kayla. I just needed some time to myself. I was cleaning up my soul room after that little dilemma a few nights ago. I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner."_

Kayla glanced down at her bracelet. If Kaia had been standing next to her, Kayla would've narrowed her eyes at her. Part of her could sense something the priestess wasn't telling her. _"Kaia, what's really going on?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"You suck at lying you know."_

_"I'm not lying."_

Kayla sighed. By the time she'd finally put an end to their little argument, she'd found herself back on the blimp with the others. Tea and Joey remained outside, eagerly awaiting Yugi and the Kaiba brothers.

Kayla decided to head back to her room to see if she could talk to Kaia a bit more. Once she was inside, she locked the door so she wouldn't be disturbed, and sat down on her bed. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"So you couldn't leave it alone, could you?" Kaia said.

Kayla opened her eyes again, and found herself in Kaia's soul room. The room hadn't changed much. The shattered mirror was whole again, as was the shattered tablet holding the painting of Kaia and Bakura. The room seemed warmer now than it had been before. And along the walls, Kaia had placed some of her own paintings.

"I see you weren't kidding when you said you were cleaning." Kayla said with a smile. "Kaia, there's obviously something bothering. What's wrong?"

"Nothing… I've just been thinking a lot lately. I've also been watching you. I have to say that I don't approve of you being so close to Bakura."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Kayla asked.

"I wanted to but…. It didn't feel like it was my place to interfere. I'm only going to say this once Kayla, be cautious around him. He's taken the time to notice certain things about you. He's taken note of your behavior towards him, and he's noticed a few of your weak points."

"That would've been nice to know beforehand, Kaia."

"You didn't seem like you would listen." Kaia said defensively. "You had a lot on your mind, and part of me didn't even want to bother you with the subject."

Kayla sighed. "Next time you notice something like that, could you at least _tell_ me? I get the feeling that you're hiding everything from me now. I get the feeling you don't trust me."

"No, it's not that." Kaia said quickly. "It trust you, it's just that I'm not sure what I'm supposed to tell you. Certain things have come up, and I'm not sure if you're ready to hear them yet, or if you're supposed to."

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked.

Kaia paused for a moment, deep in thought. She finally looked up at Kayla, and said, "There's a storm coming, Kayla. Something big is about to happen. You need to be ready when it does."

With that said, Kayla was forced out of Kaia's soul room, left with only the thoughts of what she could've meant.

"There's a storm coming…" she repeated to herself.

* * *

*End of Virtual World Arc! (About bloody time too)*

* * *

**_A/N: And now we're back on track with the Battle City Finals! Phew! I honestly didn't think I'd make it this far with this story. I'd just like you guys to know that I truly appreciate all the kind reviews and feedback. You guys truly are super special awesome! :D_**


	30. The Darkness Returns

Chapter 30  
The Darkness Returns

By the end of that day, Kayla could hardly wait for the day to end. All within the course of a day, Kaiba had landed them on the island, and started a four person duel to the semi-finals with Marik, Joey, and Yami. Each duelist stood in an elevator like duel platform. Whichever two duelists lost their life points first, faced each other in the Semi-finals first.

During their long and drawn out duel, Tea had explained to Kayla what had really gone on in Noah's virtual world. She explained that Noah was Kaiba's stepbrother, and when Noah was around ten years old, he was in a car accident which rendered his body useless. In the hope of saving his son, his father, Gozaburo Kaiba uploaded Noah's mind onto a super computer just before Seto was adopted.

Gozaburo had adopted Seto as a body for Noah, but eventually Gozaburo forgot about Noah, in favor of teaching Seto. When Seto took over Kaiba Corp, Gozaburo uploaded his own mind into Noah's virtual world.

Kayla then realized that she never honestly took the time to learn anything about Kaiba. She'd known his "rags to riches" story of being an orphan, but other than that, there was nothing else. But it wasn't like he was going to open up to her about it if she tried anyway. He held the same grudge towards her as everyone else in Yugi's group.

By the end of the duel, Joey and Marik had been the first up to duel.

From there, Mokuba led the rest of the group to the top of the tower. Yami, Joey, Kaiba, and Marik were already there.

The duel then started. The rest of the gang shouted words of encouragement to Joey. Yami looked tense and worried.

Kayla glanced in his direction, noticing it for the first time. "Yami, are you alright?" she asked quietly.

"Honestly, Kayla, no I'm not. I'm worried. More worried than I have ever been. I'm afraid of how this duel will turn out."

"Joey's a great duelist." Kayla said. "I'm sure he's going to do fine." But now that she thought about it, she wasn't so sure.

And what Marik did next made her and Yami's anxieties grow. He pulled his Millennium Rod from his belt, and had turned the duel into a Shadow Game.

From there, Marik began to taunt Joey, using Mai as his trump card. Kayla saw Joey tense up at that, loudly reassuring Marik that he would bring Mai back.

Kayla quickly remembered back to Mai's duel with Marik, how Joey had jumped onto the field to protect her. Kayla had certain theories as to why, besides the fact that she was his friend, and Joey's reaction to Marik's taunting had supported at least one of them.

It was painful to watch them duel. Marik's shadow game constantly drained strength from Joey with every loss of monsters. And Marik's tactics made it so he didn't have to use many monsters to drain Joey's life points. Even when Joey gained the upper hand in the duel, Marik always had something to pull him down again.

The end of the duel had caused everyone's hatred for Marik to grow.

Marik had summoned Ra. That much was to be expected from him. But what happened next struck everyone with awe.

Ra had begun to transform. Flames engulfed the dragon, changing its form entirely, and a soft warm light emanated from it.

"My Egyptian god has taken on the form Egyptian God Phoenix!" Marik explained to a confused Joey. "In this form, Ra is unstoppable!" With that, Marik gave up a thousand life points, powering Ra. But he had no intentions of taking life points from Joey. He planned on weakening him.

Kayla and Yami both tensed up, desperately wanting to do something to help Joey.

Fire rained down, destroying Joey's monster. But to the surprise of everyone, Joey still remained standing. He had just enough strength to summon one monster, and Serenity had finally arrived after watching over Mai.

The color drained from Serenity's face when her gaze fell on her brother. Joey was slowly sinking to his knees.

"Joey!" Serenity shouted.

"Joey, stay up!" Tea joined in.

"You can do this man!" Tristan added.

But their words did nothing. Joey had fallen. The power of Ra had finally taken its toll.

"Joey no!" Serenity screamed. "Someone call a doctor!" Duke shouted. "Joey needs help!"

"This duel is still on." Kaiba snapped. "Wheeler has 30 seconds to get up."

Yami clenched his fists, and a growl formed in his throat. "Kaiba! Forget your damn rules already!"

"Joey needs help!" Kayla added. _"Kaia is there anything we can do?"_

_"I'm afraid not Kayla. This is Joey's fight. Not only that, but Marik has just become too powerful for me to interfere."_

Soon, the shadows of the duel disappeared, and Marik was declared the winner. Mokuba and the rest of Yugi's gang jumped up onto the field to help Joey up.

"Get him downstairs to a doctor." Mokuba said, showing the kindness his brother refused to show.

Marik laughed, striding over towards them. "It's no use. He'll never awaken."

Yami stood up, his fists still clenched. "Marik, enough!" he growled. "When will this madness come to an end?"

Marik smirked. "When I possess your Millennium Puzzle, and your power."

Kayla stood up. "In your dreams." She snapped. "We're not going to let you get that far."

Marik laughed. "And I'll deal with you afterwards little priestess. For now, you should be worrying about your friend Bakura, trapped among the shadows."

"That's where you're wrong." Kayla shot back. "You're not as powerful as you think!"

"That may be. But you still have your brother to worry about."

"Marik, I said enough!" Yami shouted.

Kayla's fist tightened, and her body shook. In one swift movement, she drove her fist directly into Marik's face. The force from the punch surprised him, sending him to the ground.

"That was for Gavin you psychotic son of a bitch." She growled, her voice shaking along with her body. Kaia had offered her own strength during Kayla's attack on him, fed up with his taunting and scare tactics.

Marik stood up, wiping blood from his mouth. "You'll regret that." He growled.

"Will you just stop!" Tea shouted.

"Yeah!" Tristan chimed in. "Save the fighting for the finals."

"Come on Kayla." A calm voice said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Kayla turned to see Bakura, still using Ryo's voice, standing behind her. It was the first time she noticed he was even there. "He's not worth it."

Marik's eyes widened in shock. Kayla smirked, and turned away from him with the others. Bakura was right. He wasn't worth it.

Joey was taken back onto the blimp, now turned Jet, and was left in the care of a doctor. Kayla and Bakura stood out in the hall, waiting.

"So, exactly how long were you there during Joey's duel?" Kayla asked.

"I was there the whole time. I didn't exactly have anything else to do today."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense." She replied "Did you see Marik's face when he saw you? It's was priceless."

Bakura chuckled. "That was another reason why I came. I wanted to see his reaction."

"It was worth it."

"So was that right hook you gave him." Bakura added.

Kayla joined in with his laughter. But the joke was cut short. Yami emerged from Joey's room, slowly making his way to the opposite wall. He began to remove his duel disk from his arm, but hesitated after a second. The next thing they knew, Yami slammed in fist into the wall, breathing heavily.

_"Kayla, let me talk to him."_ Kaia said. Kayla nodded, and opened up her mind to let Kaia in.

Kaia then walked over to Yami, placing a hand on his shoulder. "My Pharaoh…" she said quietly.

Yami turned around, facing her. "Kayla?... No. No I can see the difference now. You're Kaia, aren't you?"

Kaia nodded. "You looked as though you needed me to talk to you. You always came to me in the past."

Yami nodded, allowing her to continue.

"Yami, you can't give up. Joey needs you. And so does the rest of the world. You've overcome so many challenges before. You can do it again this time. Take Kaiba down, and then crush Marik. We all believe in you."

"Kaia," he said, the name lingering in his mind. He couldn't place it with a face. "You said I used to come to you with my problems in the past… why can't I remember that?"

Kaia shook her head. "I'm not sure. I can't remember either. There are certain blanks in my own memories." She said. "But that's not what's important right now. Right now, you need to go out there and fight."

Yami nodded, sliding his duel disk back onto his arm. "You're right Kaia. I can't give up now. I've come too far to quit."

A smile spread across Kaia's face. It was that moment she began to see him just as she had 5,000 years ago. A strong, powerful, courageous leader and a good friend.

With that said, Yami turned himself around to head off to the tower.

Kaia left Kayla's body with her smile still on her face. "Well, now that that's taken care of…" Kayla paused, turning around to see that Bakura had left.

"Great." Kayla mumbled. "What did I do now?"

With that thought in mind, Kayla began to walk down the hall, searching for him.

Little did she know, that someone was stalking her the entire time.

**_What will happen next? Stay tuned for Chapter 31: Bakura Saves the Day!_**


	31. Bakura Saves The Day :Sort Of:

Chapter 31

Bakura Saves the Day (Sort Of)

Kayla found herself checking every room to see if she could find Bakura. The whole time, she found herself asking why she was doing this. After a couple rooms, she decided to dismiss the thought.

One feeling she couldn't shake, was the feeling that something was following her. A dark presence lingered in the back of her mind, but every time she turned around, she found herself alone.

Finally, she came across her room, and decided to give up on her search. _"If he wants to talk to me, he can come find me himself_." She thought. She wasn't exactly tired, seeing as she'd spent a lot of her time in the virtual world catching up on her sleep, but she thought it would be nice just to relax for a little bit.

A deep laughter from behind her stopped Kayla's thoughts dead in their tracks. She spun around, finally being able to reveal who her stalker had been. She didn't get the chance to. The moment she turned, a powerful force slammed her against the back wall of the room, and sent her down to the floor.

That same force made every muscle in her body lock up, making her unable to move anything. In the end, the only thing she _could_ move was her eyes.

Standing in the doorway of her room, was Marik.

_"Why am I not surprised?"_ Kayla thought.

Marik held the Millennium Rod in both hands, a wicked looking grin twisted on his lips, with an insane look in his eyes. He stepped closer to Kayla, sliding the rod's dagger from its sheath.

"I told you that you would regret interfering little priestess. You're actions will cost you dearly." He knelt down in front of her, dragging the dagger across her cheek, leaving a shallow cut. Kayla felt a small bead of blood run down her face. She took in a sharp breath through her teeth, wanting more than anything to drive her fist into Marik's face again.

Marik smirked, sensing her pain and her anger. "That's only the beginning." He said. "I want this to be as long and painful for you as possible." Her brought up his free hand, and grabbed onto Kayla's chin. "Unless, your little spirit friend makes an agreement with me."

_"Kayla, let me take over. I want to know what he wants." Kaia said._

_"No." Kayla said. "I don't give a damn what he wants. He can do whatever he wishes to me. I'm not letting you agree to anything."_

_"At least let me give you the power to fight back." Kaia insisted. "You can't just let him torture you like this, and I certainly won't!"_

_"No."_ Kayla repeated._ "If I use any power to fight back, I'll use my own."_

_"You're INSANE!" _Kaia shouted_. "You're going to get yourself killed!"_

_"No, I won't." _Kayla said._ "Trust me."_

Kaia sighed._ "You're a stubborn fool."_

_"I've been called worse."_

With that said, Kaia withdrew herself from Kayla's mind, returning to her soul room. She watched anxiously, seeing what Kayla would do.

With all the strength left in her, Kayla called upon the power to break some of Marik's hold on her. She was able to keep the break open enough to utter the words, "Go… to hell… you bastard."

That response earned her a smack across the face from Marik, but she didn't care. He grabbed onto her throat, and lifted her up from the floor. "You little bitch." He growled. "You'll regret those words."

"So you've said…. You've got nothing Marik…. You're all talk." Kayla managed to say through the break in his power, and his hand around her throat.

Anger flashed in Marik's eyes. His grip on her throat tightened, and he regained his lost power over her. "I'm going to enjoy this." He brought up the rod again, plunging it deep into her stomach.

_"Kayla!"_ Kaia shouted, trying to break back into Kayla's mind to take control. Her defenses had grown stronger, making it difficult for the spirit to pass through. _"Kayla, let me through. I'm taking over now. I can't let you do this!"_

"_No…"_ Kayla said. _"Let me do this. I can do this."_

_"Do what? Get yourself killed!"_

Kayla didn't respond, trying to regain her strength. She felt what little power she had left bubble up inside her. Struggling against Marik's hold, she was able to clench her fist again. That was enough of a sign for her. Kayla closed her eyes, and brought up her hands. She slammed them into Marik's chest, and bright light forming between them. With all her strength, she was able to push him away from her.

With his power broken, and him being half way across the room, Kayla was able to move again. But the prolonged pain from her injuries took their toll. With a sharp cry, Kayla sank to her knees and wrapped her arm around her wound. She coughed once, blood spattering across the floor.

Marik stood back up, chuckleing. "You're even more of a fool than I thought. You honestly thought you could stop me with that?" He grabbed onto her arm, forcing her back onto her feet.

"Marik! Get your filthy hands off of her!" another voice growled.

Kayla's eyes shot up, seeing that Bakura was standing in the doorway, his Millennium Ring glowing, and his fists clenched. "Let her go. Now!"

Marik yanked Kayla closer to him, pressing the dagger against her throat. "One more step, and you'll regret it."

Bakura stopped mid-step, his dark brown eyes widened. He took a step back, taking his place back in the doorway. "Marik, let her go." He said. His voice going from demanding, to a slight beg.

"I don't think I will." Marik said. "You see, this pest here had become a great annoyance to me, and has become a roadblock with my plans. I see no other way for things to be settled, than for me to be rid of her."

The blade bit into Kayla's throat, drawing blood. Kayla let out another cry, sending Bakura on edge. "Marik, enough!"

Marik smirked. "I apologize. My hand slipped." He knew the effect Kayla now had on Bakura. He could see him tensing up, and Kayla's eyes pleading for him.

"Tell you what Bakura, let's settle this in the way the sorcerers of Old." He said. "A Shadow Game. No card games. No duel disks. A test of wits and a test of minds."

Bakura looked from Kayla to Marik. He had no choice at this point. Marik had found his weak point.

"This is exactly why I never wanted her to get involved." He thought. "But I brought this upon myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid."

He sighed. "A Shadow Game it is Marik. I accept your challenge."

The eye of Horus glowed brightly on Marik's forehead. He dropped the dagger from Kayla's throat, and threw her to the floor. "Very well. Let it begin."

"What are the stakes?" Bakura asked.

"Whoever can reach the end of the game, and your beloved Kayla, first, wins. If I win, you hand her over to me, and allow me to do whatever I please with her. If you win, she's yours once again, and I will never lay a hand on her again."

Bakura nodded. "I accept."

"Oh, and one other thing," Marik snapped his fingers, and Kayla felt a sharp tug on her mind. A moment later, she looked up to see Kaia dressed in her Egyptian attire standing above her. She looked around, baffled and confused.

"What is this?" she demanded. "What have you done, Marik!"

"I will not have you interfering anymore, Priestess." With a flick of his wrist, he sent Kaia back against the wall. "When the game begins, Kaia will serve as our timer. Trapped within an hourglass like her friend Mai. When the timer runs out, Kaia will be submerged in sand, and trapped within the darkness. Never again will she be able to reincarnate."

"Marik, I will not agree to this!" Bakura snapped. "You're going too far!"

"Then perhaps we should skip the game then? Perhaps I should kill Kayla here and now?" Marik teased. "Is that what you truly want?"

Bakura clenched his fist. "No." he growled. After mentally kicking himself for ever letting himself get this far, he said, "Very well. You may have your little game. Just keep in mind that I will win."

Marik chuckled. "I'm sure you will." He brought up the Rod again, casting darkness over the room. "Let the game begin."

* * *

**_A/N: This chapter, and the next, were inspired by Season 0 and the first set of the Yu-Gi-Oh Manga (which also tend to be my favorite). The Shadow Games made both Yami and Bakura such bad asses, I thought I'd take a break from the tedious card games, and bring some more bad ass-ness into my fan fic. I hope you enjoy! :D _**

**_Also, i realize that i'm taking a slightly darker approach at this point, but if i do recall, the show was getting a little darker at this point anyway so mleh! :P  
_**


	32. Mirror Images

Chapter 32

Mirror Images

Darkness filled the room, and when Marik had spoken the words, the room seemed to grow larger and large walls grew from the darkness. Bakura took a step forward, placing his hand against the wall. At his touch, the wall showed him looking back at himself. His reflection. It then hit him. The walls were mirrors, and the mirrors themselves had created a maze.

"The rules are simple." Marik said, taking his place at his entrance. "Reach the end of the maze, and Kayla before the time is up. We both have fifteen minutes to do so, but being the noble man I am, Bakura; I will give you a five minute head start."

Bakura looked at him questionably. "What are you playing at Marik?"

"I'm not playing anything Bakura. I'm just trying to be civil as all."

The grin on Marik's face showed the lies behind his words. Bakura stepped cautiously into his entrance of the maze, keeping his guard up in case Marik had placed some kind of trap within it.

The passageways between the mirrors were narrow and were constantly twisting and turning, which didn't sit too well with Bakura's already tense nerves. On occasion, he would bang his knee or smack his forehead upon the glass of the maze, angering him even more.

"I swear when this is over," he muttered to himself. "I am going to strangle Marik."

At the end of the maze, Kayla sat upon a chair formed from the darkness of the game, unable to move once again. The loss of blood was causing her vision to blur, and the feeling of vertigo to overcome her. Surrounding her were mirrors showing how much of a bloody mess she'd become. Her t-shirt was completely soaked through with blood, her hair tangled and matted, her neck covered in cuts.

If Marik didn't kill her, she was sure that the loss of blood would.

"Come on Bakura." She whispered, knowing no one would hear, and she didn't care. "You can do this. I know you can."

Trapped in her hourglass prison, overlooking the entire game was Kaia. Grains of sand trickled down from the neck of the hourglass, and despite her efforts to cover it, the sand continued to flow. In her panic, she'd kicked the glass only to tire herself out quickly. The Guardian Bracelet had been removed from her wrist, or in this case Kayla's wrist, Marik had made sure of that.

After all of her attempts to fight it, she'd given up once Bakura had entered the maze. She couldn't escape it. This wouldn't be the first time either.

Bakura continued to make his way through the maze, positive that his five minutes were up and Marik had already entered the maze. With this in mind, he'd picked up his pace.

Eventually, he'd come to a point in the maze where his path, and Marik's soon to be path had crossed. He would have to push past him to keep the lead, he thought. Taking a quick glance down Marik's path, he saw that he was quite a ways behind. Bakura smirked at this, and continued his way down the path.

It was then that he'd realized his first mistake. The moment he'd started walking again, the ground had collapsed under his feet, opening up to a pit of darkness. Panicking, Bakura reached out, and grabbed onto the ledge. He now saw why Marik had granted him the head start.

"Damn it!" He cursed. A dark laughter from above mocked him. "Having fun down there Bakura?"

Bakura's head whipped up not surprised at who he'd seen. "Marik, I swear to god when I get back up there I'm going to kill you!"

"I'll have to hold that to you my friend. But at the moment, I have a game to finish." A shadow passed over the gap, and Bakura could tell Marik was on the other side of it now. "By the way, you have Ten Minutes left."

Bakura's eye widened, and he quickly began to work at getting back up. He dug his hands into the dark walls, climbing until he could finally pull himself back onto the ground of the maze.

As luck would have it, he was on the other side of the pit. It was then he started running down the mirrored corridor. In no time at all, he'd caught up with Marik. He shoved past him, slamming him into the glass wall, and continued his way down.

His heart was pounding. He could see the end of the maze in sight. Kayla was growing pale from her loss of blood. "Hang in there!" he called to her. "I'm-"

He was cut off abruptly. Just as he was about to exit the maze, a sheet of glass quickly rose from the ground. "No!" he growled, his body colliding with the mirror. He quickly looked around, trying to find another exit. With none in sight, he slammed his fists into the mirror, attempting to break the glass.

Marik's laughter filled the room. "Too bad, Bakura. It looks as though I win. But don't worry. You're beloved Kayla will be in good hands."

"Marik you son of a bitch! I'll kill you!"

"Always with the threats Bakura. Just sit back, and enjoy."

Marik stepped into the only exit left in the maze. The one he's specifically designed for him to win. All he had to do now was to grab onto Kayla, and he would've officially won. He glanced above the maze to see that the priestess had given up in her battle, and that the sand within the hourglass had reached her torso.

He looked over at Kayla with a dark grin upon his face. "It looks as though your knight in shining armor has failed you Kayla. You're mine now."

Kayla said nothing in response.

"What? Now curses? No fiery come backs? Have you finally accepted defeat?" Still, no response came. She was still breathing, so Marik knew she was still alive. "You know, come to think of it, I've decided not to kill you my dear. I believe you'll serve a greater purpose to me. Perhaps as my personal servant. Yes, I think that will suit you quite nicely. You'll stay out of my way, and I gain a new slave." With that said, he reached out to touch her.

A bright light suddenly filled the room. The shadows faltered, fading away to reveal them back in Kayla's room. Marik looked down at her in disbelief, he hadn't touched her. How could the shadows have broken?

"Marik!" a powerful male voice boomed. "You've tormented my friends for too long now! Your fight is with me, no one else! You step away from her now, and face me you coward!"

Kayla's eyes opened slowly to see that the shadow game had ended. Ryou was unconscious on her floor, and Marik was standing beside her. In her doorway, she could make out the blurred image of Yami with the eye of Horus glowing brightly on his forehead. He had stopped the game!

"Alright, Pharaoh. You want a fight? I'll give it to you." He walked over to the doorway. "I will meet you at the top of the tower. We shall finish this tournament as we were meant to. And when I win, you're puzzle, your god card, and your priestess will all belong to me."

"We shall see." Yami said, stepping out of his way. Marik stepped into the hallway, leaving them behind.

With a groan, Kayla collapsed forward, falling to the floor. "Kayla!" Yami called out, grabbing onto her as she fell. "Hang on Kayla. I'll get you some help. Just hang on. Don't you die on me now!"

"You hear him Kayla?" Kaia's voice drifted into her head. "Hang on. You're going to be alright."

Hang on.

_Hang on…_

* * *

**_A/N: We're nearing the end folks! I'm going to be updating like a mad woman in the next few days, so be sure to stay tuned!_**


	33. Heartbeat

Chapter 33

Heartbeat

Bakura opened his eyes to find that the Shadow Game had come to an end. It didn't surprise him when he learned that the pharaoh was involved with it ending, nor did it surprise him that he was the one aiding Kayla to the blimp's doctor. Once he regained his footing, checking in Kayla's mirror to be sure his Ryou poker face was on, he followed the Pharaoh out.

"Yugi!" he called, restraining himself from choking on the name in disgust. He had to actually act like he was friends with him. Again. "Wait up!"

The Pharaoh turned. "Ryou?" he said, then quickly remembering that Ryou had been in Kayla's room during the shadow game. "Oh, right. I'm sorry, I almost forgot about you."

"It's no problem at all." He said. "I was just catching up to see if Kayla was alright."

"To be perfectly honest, she's not. Look, I hate to cut this short, but I need to get her help."

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." He said, forcing himself not to grimace. _"You've done this Bakura. You can do it again." _He told himself. "Let me help. She can be a little heavy."

The Pharaoh nodded, allowing Bakura to take Kayla's other side.

Kayla felt Bakura place her other arm around his shoulder, allowing her to use him as extra support. This helped pull her out of her unconsciousness somewhat. "Hey, I heard that." She mumbled. "I'm not that heavy."

Bakura smirked at that. "Yes. You are." He whispered. "Save your energy. You'll need it." Kayla nodded at that, and said no more.

A few more minutes passed before they could get Kayla to a doctor. Neither of them could come up with a believable explanation for how she'd gotten that way, but the doctor didn't seem to care much for that. Seeing her condition was enough for him to start working.

While he began to set up, Bakura laid Kayla down on one of the beds, adjusting her hair so that it was out of her face. Her eyelids drooped a bit; she was struggling to keep herself awake. She was growing paler from the loss of blood, and her shirt was now stained red.

"Hang in there Kayla." Bakura whispered, finding himself in the very same position that got him into that shadow game in the first place. He quickly pulled his hand away from her, and began to walk away.

Her weak hand reached out, and took his hand. "Thank you." She managed to whisper. "Thank you for everything."

Bakura stopped for a moment, but he didn't answer her. He slowly pulled his hand from hers, and walked towards the door.

"Ryou." Yami said. "Could I have a word with you?"

Bakura stopped again. _"Oh great, here we go again." _He turned around, faking a smile. "Yeah, sure."

The Pharaoh led Bakura into the hallway. "I want you to tell me what you were doing in Kayla's room tonight."

"I stopped by to see her after Joey's duel. Marik's threats to her seemed to affect her, so I wanted to see if she was alright." Bakura lied straight through his teeth. "But when I walked in, he was already hurting her. I tried to stop him, but he turned right around and challenged me to a Shadow Game. I wanted to stop him, so I accepted. I wasn't doing so well until you came in."

"So you just walked in on them? That's it?" Yami asked.

Bakura nodded, keeping up his Ryou act as best as he could. All the time he'd kept it down in front of Kayla had made him a bit rusty. He never had to keep up a conversation this long.

The Pharaoh seemed to buy it. "Alright. I was just checking."

"Of course." Bakura said, trying to wrap up the conversation. _"Gods, is he done yet?"_

"Ryou, do you think you could stay back and watch after her? I have a duel I need to start, and as much as I'd like to, I can't stay."

"Of... Of course." Bakura said. In his mind, he was screaming no a thousand times over.

"Thank you." Yami said smiling. "It would mean a lot to me. And her, I'm sure."

_"Believe me; I'm definitely not doing this for you."_ Bakura thought. "Of course. Now you should get going to your duel. You know, saving the world and all that jazz?"

He nodded. "Alright. Thank you again Ryou. I hope to see the both of you soon."

Once he'd left, Bakura sighed with relief, dropped the Ryou mask, and turned back into the room. He stood in the doorway, watching as the doctor started his work.

He pulled a syringe from the table, and turned back to Kayla. "Alright, I'm just going to give you a pain killer, and this will help you relax for a little bit."

Kayla's hand shot up, grabbing onto the doctor's arm. "Wait." She squeaked. Her eyes were widened in horror at the sight of the needle. Bakura couldn't help but laugh.

"You can't be serious." He said. Kayla narrowed her eyes at him. "You're afraid of needles aren't you?"

"Shut up." Kayla hissed.

"I can't believe it. The feisty fearless Kayla is afraid of needles." Bakura said, keeping up his teasing. "This will be something to share with the world."

"Bakura, shut the hell up. I swear to god."

The doctor had taken this opportunity to give her the medication. Kayla didn't even notice.

"You were saying?" Bakura asked, taking his place next to her again.

"I… hate… you." She struggled to say through the drug induced drowsiness.

Bakura smirked again. "No you don't."

To his surprise, she didn't keep up the argument. She'd dropped it there. "What, no witty comeback?"

"I'm all out of wit today." She said. "Try asking when I'm not dying from blood loss."

"Don't say that." Bakura said quickly, surprising even himself. "You're not going to die."

"I was kidding…" Kayla said. "Bakura… Do you…?" The drowsiness overtook her, and her eyes slowly slid closed. The doctor then started. "You might want to look away. Not everyone can handle the sight of blood." he said.

Now, as we all know, the mighty Thief King wasn't afraid of blood. But the sight of Kayla's had really gotten to him. He stepped into the hallway, sighing to himself, and running his hand through his hair.

_"Oh how far I've fallen."_ He thought to himself. _"I'm really screwing myself over now. I should've stopped this before it ever got this far."_ But even he knew it was too late to turn back now.

Kaia was right. He was falling in love.


	34. One For The Road

Chapter 34

One for the Road

For a moment, there was darkness.

Slowly, as her eyes opened, the light returned.

Though blurred at first, her eyes quickly adjusted to the bright lights in the room. She sat up slowly, taking in everything around her.

"Kayla!" Tea cried. "Thank god you're alright!"

Kayla turned her head to see that everyone from Yugi's gang was standing in her room. Even Marik! But he seemed different now. He looked exactly the way he had before his evil side had taken over. _"Wait... does that mean…?"_

"Hey guys. What did I miss?" she asked.

"You wouldn't believe it Kay." Joey said. "Yugi won the Tournament!"

"That's not even the unbelievable part!" Tea added. "He destroyed Marik's evil side, and got his Egyptian God Card and the Millennium Rod!"

"And everyone Marik sent to the Shadow Realm is supposed to come back now." Duke said, contributing to the conversation.

"You're kidding me! I missed all of that?" Kayla said.

Yami nodded. "I'm sorry Kayla, but you were in no shape to watch."

Kayla nodded back. "I get it. I just wish I'd been there to see it all."

"Hey, that reminds me!" Joey said. "We need to go and check on Mai!"

"That's right!" Tristan added. "She should be back now."

"Well then let's go." Kayla said, sliding herself out of her bed. Ryou stepped forward, and offered her his hand. "Need some help?" He asked. From the sound of his voice, Kayla could tell that it was really him this time.

She smiled, but waved away his hand. "I think I can stand." She said, pushing herself up using the tray table next to her. Her entire chest was covered in bandages, and her bloody shirt had been replaced with one of her extras from her backpack.

The group left her room, her being the last one out again. But this time, Marik was the one that walked with her. "Kayla, I'd like to apologize for all the trouble I've caused." He said. "For both you and your family. I was blinded by my anger, and my darker half wasn't exactly the best of help."

"Thank you, Marik. I accept your apology." Kayla said. "So, I'm assuming you're good now? Everything's alright again?"

Marik smiled, and for once it was a genuine one. It wasn't an act, or even a twisted smile. "Yes, everything is alright with me. My brother, sister, and I plan on rebuilding our lives above ground. I'm thinking of giving up the Rare Hunters, and Duel Monsters."

"After all of this, I'm not even sure I'll even play anymore." Kayla laughed. But she knew she'd pick up the game again sooner or later.

"I don't exactly blame you." Marik agreed.

Soon, they'd caught up with the gang in Mai's room. Joey was kneeling next to Mai's bed like he usually did.

"Mai, come on!" he called, shaking her. "You need to wake up! Yugi defeated Marik, so you're mind should be back now!"

He continued to shake her, but she showed no sign of waking up. "Mai…. Please." Joey whispered, tears forming in his eyes. "You need to come back. You have to. I'll do anything to get you back…. I… I love you, Mai."

Suddenly, Kayla noticed Mai's eyes crack open, looking at Joey questionably. Everyone gasped.

Then, Mai began to giggle uncontrollably. "I can't believe it!" she laughed. "You actually fell for it! You were right Serenity!"

Joey jumped back, the look of pure shock crossed his face. "Serenity!"

Serenity giggled. "Sorry Joey. I couldn't resist."

"So you said you'd do anything to get me back Joseph? Cause there's a few cards in that deck of yours I've had my eye on." Mai said, still laughing. Joey blushed, and smiled. "Good to have you back Mai."

"Mai, that was just terrible." Tea said.

"Aw come on! It was all in good fun."

Kayla smiled, quickly remembering that someone was supposed to be awake now. She stepped out into the hall, and pulled out her phone. Everyone else had left the room, except for Joey and Mai.

"Well we should get going Mai."

"Joey, wait." Mai said, taking his hand. "Did you really mean that? That you... loved me?"

Joey blushed, and coughed into his hand to clear his throat. "Well... I... uh... maybe..."

Mai smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Come on Cowboy. Let's go catch up with the others."

Joey was stunned at what had just happened. He gently placed his hand to his cheek. He'd come out of his shock, realizing that Mai was ahead of him. "Hey! wait up!"

* * *

She looked at the number hesitantly, contemplating on what to do. She'd considered not calling, and waiting until later, but after a few moments, Kayla gave in, and called her father's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey dad, it's me."

"Kayla! It's so good to hear from you! I've been worried sick! How was the tournament? Are you ok? Did you win?"

"I'm fine dad." Kayla said. "The tournament was a bit hectic, but that's all. But no, I didn't win unfortunately. But I had a lot of fun!" Fun wasn't exactly the word, but she knew well enough her father wouldn't believe the truth.

"That's good. No doubt you want to check up on your brother. I was just heading over to the hospital. I also found this great place in town for the three of us. It's not much, but it's a good start. Plus we still have your mother's beach house that she left us."

Kayla smiled, listening to her father. He'd been planning on moving back to Domino City for years. She was glad he was finally doing something about it.

After exchanging their "I Love Yous" and goodbyes, Kayla hung up. Everyone else was outside of the blimp now.

"They're heading towards the helicopter that was sent here for Joey."

Kayla turned and saw Ryou in the hallway. "Why?" she asked.

"The blimp's shut down, and the island is going to explode in ten minutes."

"What? Is Kaiba freaking nuts!"

"Pretty much. But we should get going now." Ryou said, taking Kayla's hand and leading her outside to the copter. Within minutes, the copter took off. Just in time for the island to go up in flames.

"So where do you go from here?" Ryou asked when they were up in the air.

"Home." Kayla said. "To my bed, and a nice hot shower." She leaned back and closed her eyes.

Ryou laughed. "I mean where are you going to be living? Is your father still stationed over in Egypt?"

"Nope. He's actually looking for a place in town."

"That's good." Ryou said, placing his hand on top of hers. "I look forward to it."

Kayla opened her eyes, looking at Ryou. She then realized that Bakura was back in business. She smiled at him, but secretly disapproving of the fact that he'd taken Ryou again.

She sat back again, looking out of the window ahead of her. She watched as the clouds and the ocean passed by them.

_"We're finally going home, Kaia_." Kayla thought. _"You'll love it there. Domino City is the best place I've ever lived in."_

Within her soul room, Kaia smiled, unable to wait. _"Of that I have no doubt my friend." She said. "Of that, I have no doubt."_

Kayla smiled to herself; she herself was full of excitement and anxiety.

The Battle City Finals were finally over.

* * *

**_A/N: This is not the last chapter, just so you know. There is one more chapter left until this all comes to an end. Stay tuned :D_**

**_Sailor Moon says, tehehehe!_**

**_... don't ask why i brought that up... ;)  
_**


	35. All's Well That Ends Well

Chapter 35

All's Well That Ends Well

By the end of the day, Domino City had come into site. The Kaiba brothers had gone their separate ways on Kaiba's own jet (which was shaped like a Blue Eyes White Dragon. Something everyone found ridicules.)

The helicopter had dropped them off in the Domino City Shipping Yards where Marik's boat sat waiting for him and his siblings.

"Well guys, this is where we part ways." Marik said once they had landed. He approached Yami, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Pharaoh, I must thank you once again. You saved me from myself. I hope that maybe now, we could try to be friends?"

Yami nodded. "Of course, Marik. I'd be honored."

Marik smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot."

"Now, you must go on and discover the secrets behind your past." Ishizu said. "Good luck to you, my king. And good luck to you Kayla." She turned her gaze on her, and stepped closer. In a low, quiet voice, she said. "You are heading down a very dangerous path, young priestess. Step lightly, and be careful. Some people are not as trustworthy as you think."

Kayla nodded. "Thank you Ishizu. I'll remember that."

Marik tapped his sister on the shoulder. "Come on Sis. Let's get going."

With that said, Marik, Ishizu, and Odeon boarded their boat, and pulled out of the harbor, waving goodbye.

"Well, I guess that's my cue to leave." Duke said.

"What? What do you mean?" Tristan asked.

"You know me, I can't stay in one place for too long. I've got places to go, hearts to break, and dice to roll." He turned, and took Serenity's hands. "It was nice meeting you. See you around, Serenity."

"See you 'round Duke." Serenity said. When he walked away, she looked down at her hand, seeing a small slip of paper. Kayla almost laughed, seeing Tristan's face. "Real smooth Duke!" he shouted. "Like she'll ever call you!"

Mai chuckled. "Well, now it's my turn."

Joey turned to her in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Same thing as Duke." She said. "I'm a wanderer. I came here for the Battle City Tournament, and now that that's over. It's time for me to move on. But, not before…" She trailed off, turning to Joey. She then threw her arms around him, kissing him.

Joey had been taken by surprise, but a second later, he returned the kiss, gaining a couple aww's from the crowd.

When Mai pulled away, she laughed at the gang's reaction. "It was nice hanging with you guys, but I need to get going. Be good you guys. And Kayla, I hope to duel you someday. And Yugi, next tournament, it'll be you against me. You can count on that."

With that said, she ran off in the same direction Duke had left in. Tea smiled, patting Joey on the back. "Good to see you've finally done something right with her Joey."

"Gee thanks Tea. You're a real help." Joey said sarcastically.

"With all that said," Tristan piped up. "I wonder what's next for all of us?"

Everyone turned and faced Kayla. "Where do you go from here Kay?" Joey asked.

Kayla smiled. "Well, from here, I need to head to the Domino City Hospital. Gavin should be awake now."

"That's right." Tea said. "He should be out of the Shadow Realm by now. But what about after that? Will we see you again?"

"Of course! My dad's found a place in town, and we're moving in as soon as we can. I'll also be going to the same school as you guys, so get used to seeing my face. It's going to be around for a very long time."

"That's awesome Kayla!" Tea exclaimed.

"Yeah, it'll be nice having you around." Joey said. "You make things a bit more fun than they were before."

"Maybe now we can actually get to know one another." Tristan added.

Kayla smiled. "Thanks you guys. I'm glad to call you all my friends." She looked over at Bakura with a smile _"Maybe even more than friends."_

Bakura stepped forward with a smile on his own face. "I'm glad I got to know you Kayla." He said, still faking Ryou's voice for show. He placed his hand on the shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "And I look forward to getting to know you even more." He whispered.

Just then, he planted his lips on hers, locking her in a strong and passionate kiss.

The look of shock passed over everyone's face. Whether they saw it coming or not, their faces didn't show it. Bakura pulled away from her, still smiling. "See you around, Kayla. I should be getting home now."

A blush passed over as her left. "Yeah, see you around Ryou!" she called after him. She then turned back to the other. "Uh, sorry about that."

Tea smiled. "No problem Kay. To be honest, that explains a lot of what went on during the finals with you two."

_"Trust me. You don't even know the half of it."_ Kayla thought. "Well, I better get going you guys. My family await."

"Well… it doesn't look like you have to go very far." Yami said.

"Why's that?" Kayla asked.

"Turn around." Tea said, stifling a giggle.

"Why?"

"Turn around." A male voice said from behind. Kayla's eyes widened at the sound of the voice. She slowly turned around, gasping and nearly bursting into tears at the sight of who stood behind her.

"Gavin!" she cried, throwing her arms around her brother. "Thank god you're okay."

"The doctors said it was a miracle." Kayla's father,Jonathon, from behind the both of them. "They said he just woke up, and he was perfectly fine. They don't even have a clue what started the coma in the first place."

Kayla and Gavin both knew far too well what had caused it, but they also knew that they couldn't tell him the truth.

"Gavin, I just want you to know I'm sorry for all of this. It was my fault this happened to you." Kayla whispered.

"It's no big deal Kay. It wasn't your fault. I know why everything happened the way it did. Every Shadow Game you saw, I was watching from the sidelines. I heard why Marik did this. It wasn't your fault."

Gavin let go of her and turned to the rest of the gang. "I want to thank you guys. Without you, I don't think Kayla wouldn't have gotten as far as she did."

"Gee thanks." Kayla said sarcastically. "You're real supportive Gavin."

"I try."

The rest of the gang laughed at that.

Jonathon was the one that ended the conversation. "Well, I hate to end this, but we all need to get going. We all have had a hard time lately."

"Amen to that." Kayla said. "Let's go home."

"See you around Kayla!" Tea called as they left.

"It was nice seeing you again Tea." Gavin called back with a smile.

And with that, Kayla walked with her brother and father. "Well, this is the family Kaia. Not exactly your typical family, but a family."

"It's great to finally get to see them Kayla. And it's great to finally be home."

"Yeah… Home." Kayla thought to herself.

Neither one of them had any idea what would come next for them. But Kayla definitely knew that things were going to be different from now on.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

_Fin!_

* * *

**_A/N: Well folks, that's the end of that chapter. But Kayla and Kaia's adventures are not yet over. Ever wonder what would happen if Kayla were involved during season 4 with the Seal of Orichalcos? Ever wonder what would change if Bakura tagged along?_**

**_But with cannon aside, what would happen if the gang were to spend the last two weeks of summer along in Kayla's beach house?_**

**_All these questions will be answered in what is next to come: Summer Nights and Seals of Fate._**

**_I hope you all enjoyed this, and will stick around for the sequel!_**

**_It was a pleasure writing this for you guys._**

**_Credit Song: I'm Not Calling You a Liar by Florence and the Machine. I would highly recommend checking this song out. : )_**


	36. Advertisement!

_**A/N: Hey guys, just thoguth i'd let you know that i started writing a mini series that takes place after this story, and it's up on my profile now. It won't end up being much, but it will involve alchohol, and a lot of romance ;) check out my profile for it. I hope you all enjoy!**_

_**Lots of love!**_

_**xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo**_

_**- Rowan Cousland**_


	37. Writings Inspired By:

**_Writings Inspired By:_**

**_A/N: Alright, so I did this in Summer Nights. I gave a list of everything my chapter titles were inspired by. The songs I used, I would highly recommend listening to. Everything else, see if you were the first to spot them all. :D (Aside from the obvious episode based chapters.) I'll also be doing this in Seals of Fate_**

**_Chapter 3 was inspired by the title for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories_**

**_Chapter 7 was inspired by "Me and Charlie Talking" by Miranda Lambert_**

**_Chapter 11 was inspired by "What Have You Done" by Within Temptation_**

**_Chapter 28 was inspired by "Some People Change" by Montgomery Gentry_**

**_Chapter 33 was inspired by "Heartbeat" by Enrique Iglesias_**

**_The rest of the chapters were based off of the episode titles, and creative play on words._**

**_Hope you enjoyed this :D_**


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